Michael's Little Problem: Part 3
by 112908
Summary: Lily faces new challenges as she juggles school, her boyfriend, her estranged father, Larry Sizemore, and much much more. Can Michael protect Lily from the dangers of his life? PART 4 NOW POSTED!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Hello fellow readers! First, if you have not read parts 1 and 2, I suggest you take a look at them because this story picks up right where part 2 left off. Second, to all the readers who follow this story, I would like to apologize for the long delay in getting this next part out there. Life took its toll and my stories were left in the dust for a while but now I'm back on track! I have a good chunk of this story already written, so I'll be regularly updating. Once again, sorry for the wait, and I hope you enjoy!

…

Michael's Little Problem: Part 3

Chapter 1

Miami, FL

_Lily Sizemore's POV_

I stared at the front of our house in shock. All the front windows were blown out and it looked like the whole room was trashed. I didn't even want to think about what the rest of the house looked like. Sam put his arm around me, and I jumped, almost forgetting he was there. "It's not as bad as it looks on the outside, Lily. The rest of the house is actually in pretty good shape." I just nodded, not trusting myself to speak and walked towards the front door (or where the front door used to be).

The last few days had been really rough for me. I was almost ambushed at my school and captured, but thanks to Michael's help I had escaped. A lot of confusing things had happened after that, and now Michael was in jail. We didn't know how long he was going to be there, but Sam seemed optimistic that he would get out soon. Apparently they couldn't charge him with anything. I had spent the night at Michael's loft with Sam and Fi, and now we were back at my house to assess the damage. Grandma was supposedly already in the house, so I called her name when I stepped in. "Grandma?" I yelled, not seeing her anywhere on the first floor. The front room smelled like fire and it almost made me cough to breathe it in. I heard footsteps coming from the second floor and I bounded up the steps. I had been so worried about grandma the past few days and I couldn't wait to see her. She had been ambushed just like me, but luckily Sam was there to save her.

When I got to the top of the steps I saw grandma walking towards me and she put her arms out. "I'm so glad you're okay, sweetie!" I gave her a big hug and then she put her arm around me as we walked back downstairs.

"I'm glad you're okay too, grandma. I missed you." Grandma just smiled, but the smile wiped clean off her face when we got to the bottom of the stairs and were looking at the extensive damage to the sitting room again. Sam happened to walk in the house just at that moment and grandma turned her anger on to him.

"Oh Sam, is that you? I can barely see you through all this rubble." Sam scratched his head looking awkward and embarrassed.

"I'm really sorry about this, Maddie. We'll rebuild the whole thing in no time. I'm sure Mike will be glad to help when he gets back." Grandma huffed and walked away, probably to go find her cigarettes.

"I'm gonna start throwing stuff out." I announced to break the tension. Sam just gave me thumbs up and tip toed out of the house, probably so grandma wouldn't start yelling at him again. For the rest of the day, I threw myself into cleaning up the debris left from the explosion and thankfully I was too busy to think about Michael.

…

Unfortunately, I had to go back to school the next day. Grandma told me I could stay home for one day if I wanted to, but I decided it would be best if I had something to do other than think about Michael sitting in a jail cell. What if he was in prison for years? I couldn't bear the thought of it and if I was being honest with myself, thinking negative thoughts like that certainly wasn't going to help me or Michael.

When I got to school, I had about ten minutes to get to my locker before the bell rang. I quickly grabbed the books I would need for the day and slammed my locker shut. When I turned around, I found a welcome surprise when my boyfriend, Pete, was standing right behind me. Pete and I had been dating for a couple weeks and I had loved every minute of it. "Hey there, Lily," he said, smiling down at me.

I smiled and gave him a huge hug, much to his surprise. "I missed you this weekend, Pete. Practice wasn't the same without you." I was actually glad Pete hadn't been in town at all this past weekend just because of all the things that happened.

Pete pulled back and looked at me. "Are you okay, Lily?" He asked, probably picking up on my mood.

I shrugged. "I'm fine…Hey, we should get going. Class is about to start!" I said, hastily changing the subject. Pete looked at me doubtfully, but then surprised me by kissing me on the cheek. As we started walking to class, I felt him grab my hand.

"You look tired." Pete commented. I hadn't slept well last night because I had been so preoccupied with thinking about Michael.

"Yeah, it was a long weekend. We started some renovations at our house and I was helping with that a lot." It was almost comical to say renovations when it felt more like forced redecorating.

"Oh, cool. Let me know if you need any help with it." I nodded and then we had arrived at the spot where we usually said goodbye to each other. "See you at practice!"

"Bye, Pete!" He waved as I walked in the other direction to get to my first class. I was dreading going to cross country practice today because I was so tired, but I knew it would help get my mind off of things. Plus, that meant more time with Pete.

The school day seemed to drag on forever, and cross country practice was even longer. I ran well below my normal pace because I was so tired, and by the end of practice I was ready to drop to the floor. Luckily I had asked for a ride and I was surprised to see Sam waiting in a shiny red Cadillac. Maybe he was doing a favor for grandma since she was so mad at him. "Who's that?" Pete asked me when I walked towards the car. I had to think on my feet but then I just decided to tell him the truth.

"Uh, that's Michael's friend, Sam. I've known him for a long time." Pete nodded.

"Where's Michael? I feel like that guy didn't like me when I met him at your house." I smiled at the memory.

"Oh, Michael likes you just fine; he's just overprotective of me sometimes." That was an understatement. "Michael is actually out of town right now. He didn't tell me where he was going." I said vaguely.

"Cool, well let me know if you need help with the remodeling and I'll see you tomorrow, Lily." We hugged each other again and I hoped Sam wasn't watching. When I got in the car, Sam smiled at me.

"Look at you! That your boyfriend?" Of course Sam had seen everything.

"Uh-huh. Thanks for picking me up, Sam." I didn't want to elaborate on my relationship with Pete anymore than I absolutely had to.

"No problem." Sam said, just smiling to himself, no doubt still thinking about Pete. We drove in silence for a little while before Sam delicately said, "You actually just missed Michael. He's out of jail and he was over at the house. We got a job though so he had to leave." My jaw dropped. If I hadn't gone to cross country practice then I would have seen Michael!

"He's back? I can't believe it! Is he coming back to see me?" I hoped Michael would come back to the house later.

"I don't know. After I drop you off I'm supposed to meet him; I'll let him know you're anxious to see him." I nodded and smiled.

"How's the house and grandma? She still worked up?" Sam nodded with a grimace on his face.

"Maddie can sure be a piece of work! I've been working at the house all day. I was glad she asked me to pick you up just so I could get a break." I laughed, knowing Sam wouldn't live this down for a long time. Grandma still talked about the time I accidentally broke her favorite ash tray and that was over five years ago. We got to the house shortly after that and I said goodbye to Sam.

While I was still very tired, I still had to get through my homework assignments for the day and also help grandma with dinner. By 9:00, I was so tired I was falling asleep at the kitchen table while I was working on my geometry homework. Grandma noticed when she walked by on her way to the kitchen. "Lily, just go to bed!"

"What if Michael comes?" I asked. I had been trying to stay up specifically for that reason. I was doing an assignment that wasn't due until Friday.

"Then he can come back tomorrow, Lily! Don't let him be the reason you don't get enough sleep, alright?" I nodded and sat up straight.

"I'll just stay up a little longer, grandma." She shrugged and walked away and I looked around the room looking for something else to do. Having nothing else to do, I decided I would put my head down for a couple minutes. That turned out to be a huge mistake, and I was asleep within minutes.

...

_Michael Westen's POV_

I arrived at my mother's house at around 10:30 after a very long and exhausting day. Sam had mentioned that Lily really wanted to see me and I didn't want her to think I was blowing her off, so I decided to come back and say hello. My mother opened the temporary front door before I could even walk in. "Michael, what the hell?" She whispered. I took a few steps back and raised my eyebrows.

"Hello to you too, ma." My mother shook her head angrily.

"Lily has been waiting all night for you! She refused to go to sleep until she saw you!" My mother hissed. I couldn't understand why she was so upset.

"Well, I'm here now, so can I go in?" My mother stepped aside and I walked through the temporary doorway. I realized why my mother was so upset when I saw Lily sitting at the kitchen table, fast asleep. She had her head in her arms and looked like she was dead to the world.

"Look at her, Michael! Sam told me she hardly slept at all the other night, and I know she didn't sleep well last night. Then she insisted on waiting up for you!" Lily had clearly had a rough couple of days and I felt bad for her, especially since I was the cause of all her stress.

"Ma, I'm sorry it's been rough for you two. I'll just come back tomorrow." My mom nodded.

"Do you think I should just leave her here? She's so soundly asleep, I don't want to wake her." I shook my head, suddenly having déjà vu.

"I'll carry her up, Ma." I scooped Lily off the chair, trying to move as little as possible and began carrying her up the stairs.

My mother followed closely behind me. "Michael, I swear she looks like she's losing weight. Does she feel lighter?" She whispered. I almost laughed out loud but I held it in.

"I don't know mom, this isn't exactly a regular occurrence. She looks fine to me. Lily's always been thin." My mother huffed and walked towards her bedroom. Lily had always been a pretty heavy sleeper so she didn't even stir at our quiet conversation. _She must be exhausted_. I thought to myself as I put her down on her bed as gently as I could. Part of me wished she would wake up, just so she knew I was here, but my mother would tell her in the morning. As if she could read my thoughts, Lily started rustling around in her bed. It looked like she was having a nightmare and I debated what to do. Thinking she would probably wake up anyway even if I didn't do anything, I decided to shake her awake. "Lily! Wake up!"

…

_Lily Sizemore's POV_

_I rolled over in bed and saw Larry staring down at me with a knife to grandma's throat. "Let's go, kid. I don't have all day and Michael isn't here to save you." Larry laughed. "Might as well just come live with your father." _

I was about to scream when I felt someone shaking my shoulder. I shot up from what I thought was the kitchen chair with my arms flailing and I felt someone grab them. _How the hell did I get in my room?_ I thought to myself. "Take it easy, everything is fine." I jumped at the voice and suddenly I was fully awake. I was staring into Michael's anxious face and he had my arms gripped in his hands. He let go of me when he saw I was fully awake and I threw my arms around him. "You fell asleep at the kitchen table, and grandma didn't want to wake you up so I carried you to your bedroom."

"I missed you." I was so glad Michael was back that I could feel myself tearing up. The shock of the nightmare and seeing Michael was too much for me. Michael patted me on the back and then I let go of him.

"I missed you too, kiddo." I lay back down on my stomach and tried to relax. I was happy Michael was back, but Larry was still fresh in my mind. As always, Michael could see right through me and he started rubbing my back. "Just relax, Lil. Was it the same as always?" I knew he was talking about my nightmare and nodded. "I'm sorry, it's probably because you've been stressed. Things should go back to relatively normal now." He paused and added with a chuckle, "By the way, grandma thinks you're losing weight. She seemed to think I would be able to tell just by picking you up."

I had to laugh at that, but then I felt embarrassed. Grandma always turned to Michael when she had concerns about me. "You can tell her I'm not losing weight." I wished I could talk more with Michael, but I was already falling asleep again.

"We'll talk more tomorrow, alright?" I nodded and Michael stood up from the bed. He briefly put a hand on my shoulder and then he was gone. I drifted back to sleep very quickly after that, happy that Michael was safe and things would go back to as normal as they could be. For now.


	2. Chapter 2

Michael's Little Problem: Part 3

Chapter 2

Miami, FL

_Lily Sizemore's POV_

About a week after Michael got out of jail, I found a surprise visitor waiting for me when I got out of cross country practice. Lately it had been hit or miss waiting to see if I would get a ride home or not. I still hadn't gotten a new cell phone after having to ditch my old one, so I usually just hoped someone would show up when I was ready to be picked up. Nate was leaning against a nice black sedan and waiting for me in the parking lot. He waved when he saw me and I ran towards the car in excitement. I hadn't seen Nate in a long time and I had missed him. I practically mowed him over when I ran into him to give him a big hug, but he managed to stay on his feet. "Hey, Lils, how are you?" He asked when we broke apart.

"Great! It's so good to see you, Nate!" We both got into the car and Nate pulled out of the parking lot.

"So, what have I missed?" Nate asked as we drove.

I didn't even know where to begin so I just kept it simple. "Not much. I joined the cross country team this year so I've been doing that a lot."

Nate smiled. "Cross country, huh? You always liked to run so that comes as no surprise."

"Yeah, I really like it. So how about you? What's new in your life?" Nate gestured towards the car.

"I have my own business driving cars now. That's actually why I came to Miami. I have a meeting with a potential investor in a little while." I was surprised Nate had actually pulled all this together. He had always been one to start something and then give up on it fairly quickly. I was really happy for him.

"Don't let me make you late for your meeting with your client!" I hoped Nate wasn't keeping the client waiting just so he could do me a favor by driving me home from school.

Nate suddenly looked guilty. "No, no, you're not making me late. I was actually hoping you could help me out with something."

I looked at Nate skeptically. "What did you need?"

He smiled. "Well, this client I'm going to meet is really family oriented, and I was thinking I'd look really good if I brought you with me. Maybe I could say you needed a ride home and I was the only one available and I didn't want to be late for the meeting so I just brought you with me. It'll only take about an hour, Lils. Can you help me out?"

I had a mental battle with myself for a second; on one hand, I really wanted to help Nate out because I wanted him to succeed in his new business, but on the other hand, going to meet a complete stranger didn't seem like my idea of fun. I shrugged my shoulders, feeling resigned to helping Nate out. "Alright, sure." Nate smiled and high-fived me.

"You're the best, Lils." I just laughed and we continued driving to wherever it was we were going. After about fifteen minutes, we arrived at a nice looking house. I wasn't familiar with the neighborhood, but all the houses looked very modern. I suddenly felt very underdressed in my sweaty practice clothes.

"Nate! I look like crap! Maybe I should just wait in the car…" I didn't feel like helping Nate out anymore once I realized I didn't fit in at all. Nate was wearing a suit for crying out loud!

Nate put his arm around my shoulders and steered me towards the front door. "You look fine, Lily. I'll just introduce you to him and then you can stay off to the side while we talk. Sound good?" I nodded, thinking I would never do something like this for Nate again and we walked up the front steps. Nate knocked and a muscular man with long hair answered the door.

"You must be Nate. My boss is running late so he told me to start the meeting. My name is Rick." Rick smiled at us and I felt uneasy.

Nate smiled and shook Rick's hand. "Nice to meet you, Rick. I'm sorry I'm a little late. My family had a little emergency and I had to pick my niece up from school. I didn't want you to think I wasn't serious about this deal so I decided to bring her along." Rick smiled broadly and shook his head.

"That's totally fine. I'm glad to see you put family emergencies ahead of things like this. Your niece can just watch some TV while we talk." Rick held his hand out to me and I shook it.

"Hi, I'm Lily." Rick laughed again after I introduced myself and it made me feel awkward. _It must be a nervous thing he does_, I thought to myself as we went in the house. Rick pointed towards the TV room and I walked in there to sit and wait for Nate to be finished.

...

Michael Westen's POV

As soon as I found out that Nate's potential investor was Brennan, the man who held a huge grudge against me, I knew we were in trouble. After he showed me a picture of Nate with a burly looking man, Brennan stood in front of me, gun in hand, with a triumphant smile on his face. I knew I would have to help him with whatever job he needed or else Nate would die. Brennan opened the trunk to the charger. "Keys, phone, and your sunglasses." I dropped them in the trunk and Brennan locked them in. As we walked towards his car, Brennan explained my rules. "Rules for the super spy: I give orders, you obey. You try to escape, Nate dies. Fail to complete a task, Nate dies… Refuse an order –"

I cut Brennan off right there. "I get it. I'm not helping you until I know Nate's okay." I wasn't going to take part in illegal activity until I knew my brother wasn't already dead.

"We covered this already; remember the picture?" Brennan talked to me like I was an idiot.

I shook my head. "That could have been taken hours ago, prove Nate's alive or your project ends here."

Brennan was getting heated. "How about this: you stop making demands or your life ends here!" I took a step back from Brennan. I needed to make it clear that if he was going to get what he wanted, then I needed to get what I wanted. "Get in the car!" Brennan was losing his patience.

"You're the one stopping me. Prove to me I'm not wasting my time." I insisted. Brennan glared at me for a few seconds, but then pulled out his phone.

"One word-" He began, but I cut him off again, tired of his theatrics.

"And Nate dies." I finished for him. Brennan called the burly looking man.

"Yeah, it's me. Put our friend on." Brennan waited a couple seconds and then Nate answered. "Nate Westen? Simon Davis."

"Simon, my man. Are you heading over?" Nate had no idea the danger he was in right now.

"I've actually got a few errands to run, but you can work out the details with my partner. Be careful though, he can be ruthless once he starts to work you over." Brennan was flaunting Nate's ignorance.

"Yeah, I'm looking forward to the challenge. Your partner wants to talk to you." Nate responded. He handed the phone back to the enforcer and Brennan turned off the speaker phone. As the guy talked, Brennan seemed to grow happier and happier.

"You're kidding me! Two for the price of one! Oh, he'll be thrilled; talk to you in a bit." Brennan hung up the phone and smiled at me. "Sounds like Nate brought a friend. A girl by the name of Lily?" My stomach dropped at hearing Lily's name. "Nate really took it to heart when I said I was into family values. Apparently he picked her up from school because of a family emergency and went straight to the meeting, not wanting to be late. I can really appreciate him taking the extra effort to impress me. Can't you?"

My blood was boiling. "Brennan, if you hurt her I swear on my life I'll kill you."

Brennan laughed. "Well, I guess that's up to you now, isn't it? Now get in the damn car."

We were in trouble, and that was for certain.

…

Twenty minutes later, we arrived at an office building where I was instructed to steal a hardware key. I got past security without a problem, and in no time I found a phone to call Sam and Fi. We needed all hands on deck if we were going to get out of this alive. Sam answered on the second ring. "Yeah?"

"Sam."

"Mike."

"Yeah. Remember Brennan?" I didn't have much time and I looked around to make sure nobody was getting suspicious.

"Sure, the guy who liked to strap bombs to little kids. Why?" Sam could tell where I was heading.

"He's back, and he's threatening to kill Nate and Lily unless I steal some high tech security software for him." Sam paused for a few seconds to leave the room, he was probably in my mom's house right now.

"Are you okay? Are Nate and Lily okay? How the hell did she even end up there?" I shook my head. It was just some very bad luck that Lily was with Nate right now.

"I'm fine and Nate and Lily were fine about twenty minutes ago. Nate brought Lily along with him thinking it would impress his investors. Long story."

"What can I do?" Sam's voice sounded serious.

"I just hacked Brennan's cell and I emailed all the data to you. I need you to comb through the addresses, text messages, and phone calls." I looked through the desks as I talked, looking for something that would help me get into the office to steal the hardware key.

"You wanna know what he's after." Sam caught on to my idea.

"I wanna know everything. We need to figure out where he's hiding Nate and Lily and we need to do it fast. I have a feeling we're not getting out of this alive, Sam." I hung up before Sam could answer and went to work hoping the phone records would tell us what we needed to know.

…

_Lily Sizemore's POV_

About an hour and a half later, I was getting restless. I had been sitting in the living room staring at the TV for a while now, and I was more than ready to go home. I turned towards to the kitchen to stare at Rick and Nate, and they were still deep in conversation. _Maybe I could just take the bus home?_ I wondered to myself. I had to be at school tomorrow and I still needed to work on my homework. Right as I was about to get up and tell Nate I had to leave, I heard footsteps coming towards the living room. "Hey, Lils we're gonna go meet the boss. I promise we'll go home right after. Ready to go?" I thought about this for a second. I felt like I was putting a damper on this meeting by tagging along.

"You know what, Nate? I think I'm just gonna take the bus home. I don't want to interrupt your meeting." I started walking towards the front door, but Rick put an arm on my shoulder. I instantly felt uncomfortable.

"It's okay, you can come with us. I'm sure the boss would love to meet you. You'll be home in no time." He smiled at me and I grimaced back. This guy gave me the creeps.

"Alright." We made our way to the car and headed to meet the boss.

We arrived at a huge office building about ten minutes later and a man with gray hair was waiting by a car. "Nate! Good to see you!" The man said when Nate got out of the car. They hugged (which I thought was a little strange), and then started talking. Not knowing what else to do, I got out of the car and stood to the side. I looked around, trying to figure out what part of Miami we were in, and snapped out of it when I heard Nate.

"What's he doing here?" I whirled around and saw Michael standing next to Nate. Totally confused, I walked up to them and just stared. Something was definitely wrong here. Michael made eye contact with me and shook his head. I knew that look, so I took a few steps back.

The gray haired man went on to explain. "Nate, you're here along with this kid," he pointed at me, "to discourage stupid decisions and to show that I don't make idle threats." The man whipped out a gun and shot Nate in the arm.

I screamed and Michael shouted, "Nate!" He turned to the man with a murderous look on his face. "You didn't need to do that." I turned to run away, knowing that's what Michael would want me to do, but I was grabbed from behind by Rick. He put an arm around my neck, and I felt a gun against my head. We turned around and I saw Michael and the gray-haired man staring at us.

"Are you going to do what I want, or am I going to have to put a bullet in her head?" I was shaking from head to toe and I could feel the tears running down my face. I hadn't expected any of this to happen when I agreed to help Nate.

Michael looked at me and then at the gray-haired man. "Fine." He ran towards the building and I was left alone with the two psychopaths. Once Michael was gone, Rick took the gun away from my head, but still kept his arm around my neck. It was hard to breathe and I grabbed his arm to try and give myself more air. Nate was still on the ground bleeding and I knew he was worse off than me. I was close to hyperventilating, but I tried to keep it under control. It seemed to take hours for Michael to come back, but when he did he was empty handed.

"Was I unclear about the situation here?" The gray haired man looked livid. Michael looked as calm as ever.

"No, you were very clear. I had the box in my hands, but then I decided you never will." The gray haired man shook his head and put his gun up to my head.

"Go back and get it!" He shouted. I panicked and looked at Michael.

"Please don't." I plead with the man. I could barely think straight. I jumped when the man's cell phone went off.

"I think you got a text message." Michael pointed towards his phone and the man rolled his eyes.

"I think it can wait." The man was clearly not messing around.

"No, it can't." Michael replied. He watched while the man looked at the phone. They continued talking while I zoned out. I was feeling light-headed from having trouble breathing and all I wanted was these men to go away. When I tuned in to the conversation again, the gray-haired man was talking to someone on the phone and looking a little unhinged. After listening to the conversation, I figured out it was probably his daughter.

"This isn't you, Westen. You're capable of a lot things but you would never hurt a child." Michael was looking as calm as always. He gestured to me.

"But you would, Brennan. You're doing it right now." Brennan looked at me and then back at Michael.

"If you hurt her, I swear to god I will go after everyone you love." Brennan was threatening Michael.

"Of course you would, Brennan. She's your family." Brennan shook his head, but retreated. I felt like I was missing a lot of information, but when Rick let go of me I didn't even care. I shuffled towards Nate, and Michael and I helped walk him over to the sidewalk. Brennan and Rick drove away and I sank to the ground in relief. I was still shaking like a leaf, and I put my head in my hands to try and catch my breath. I felt like I was still staring at the barrel of Brennan's gun and that wasn't helping me calm down. After a couple minutes, Michael grabbed my hands and pulled them away from my face. "You alright?" He peered into my eyes and tilted my head back so he could look at my neck.

"I'm fine." I wiped some tears off my face and Michael pulled me to my feet. I kept my eyes on my feet because I was afraid if I looked at Michael I would lose it. I was hanging on by a thread and I didn't want to make it worse.

"Lily, just look at me." Michael sounded exasperated and I could tell he was worried about me. When I didn't look up, Michael put his arms around me and that was when I lost it. "It's okay, you're safe now." He rubbed my back as I sobbed into his shirt. After a while, when I was calm enough to sit by myself, Michael went to check on Nate and we waited for a ride.

…

Later that night, I went to bed thinking I had literally dodged a huge bullet. After taking Nate to the hospital, we had gotten back to the house late at night when grandma was already asleep. Michael told me he was just going to sleep on the couch downstairs because it was too late to go back to the loft, but I knew he was staying here for me. It had been a long day, and I was thankful my family was safe.


	3. Chapter 3

Michael's Little Problem: Part 3

Chapter 3

Miami, FL

_Lily Sizemore's POV_

A couple weeks after my disastrous encounter with Nate's potential investors, I found myself settling back into a more normal life style. Cross country season ended about a week ago, so Pete and I had a lot more free time after school. We usually hung out around school for a little while, and then Pete would walk me home. Pete's sister always needed his car after school so she could get to her part-time job. We were about a block away from my house and deep in conversation on this sunny Miami day. "So what are you planning on doing the rest of the day, Lily?" I shrugged.

"Nothing really. I'm glad I had study hall today because I was able to finish my homework. I'm probably just going to help my grandma make dinner and then play cards with her or something. What are you planning on doing?" We walked up the front steps to my house and sat next to each other on the front steps.

"Well, I have some homework to finish, and then I have to take my little sister to her ice skating class. I'll probably be really bored so I might text you later." I smiled up at Pete and nudged his shoulder.

"Well, I'll be ready to keep you entertained then." Pete laughed and then ran a hand through his hair.

"Can I ask you a question, Lily? You don't have to answer if you don't want to." I looked back at Pete, wondering what he wanted to know.

"Okay, sure."

"Why is your last name Sizemore and your grandma's last name Westen?" I was taken aback at the question and then I thought for a second. I would have to make up a huge lie to answer this question and I just didn't want to. Pete deserved to know the truth about Larry. I would just leave out some important details.

"It's a long story, Pete. Are you sure you want to hear it?" Pete put his arm around my shoulder and squeezed.

"I'm all ears if you want to tell me, Lily." I took a deep breath and began at the beginning.

"My mother and father were always separated. When I was very young, my mother died suddenly and I was sent to live with my father, Larry Sizemore. It was sort of a rough time living with him. He's an intimidating guy and he likes to have his way. I don't have a lot of memories of the time I lived with him, but the ones I do have aren't exactly happy ones." Pete was looking at me with a strange look on his face. He clearly wasn't expecting this. "I lived with Larry for a couple years, and that's where I met Michael. I guess they used to work together. One day, Larry just disappeared and never came back. Luckily Michael was with me at the time and he decided to take me in. He brought me to grandma's house and I've lived here ever since." I looked up at Pete tentatively.

"Lily, I had no idea. I'm sorry I brought it up, you didn't have to tell me." Pete looked almost embarrassed and I shook my head.

"I really like you, Pete. I'm not going to keep my past a secret from you." I smiled at Pete and he kissed me.

"How come you don't live with Michael?" Pete asked, and then added, "If you don't mind me asking."

I waved him off. "It's fine. I don't live with Michael because of his job. It would have been crazy to live with him when I was younger, and now his life is still kind of chaotic." I laughed, knowing that I was putting that mildly.

Pete nodded. "So, did your dad ever come back?" I knew he was going to ask that question. I wrung my hands trying to figure out what to say.

"Yeah, he did… he actually found me last year towards the end of the school year. He seemed to think I wanted to go live with him again, but I didn't want to. I can't stand the guy and my life is here, you know?" Pete nodded in understanding.

"So, what did you do? How did you tell him you didn't want to leave?" I shuddered, remembering what had happened at the beach that day.

"Well, Michael was trying to keep me away from Larry while he was in town, but I made a mistake and Larry found me at that beach we ran to on our first date. We had a confrontation and I managed to get away, thanks to Michael." I looked down at my arm as I said this and traced the scar I had from Larry's knife.

"I'm glad you're okay. Your dad sounds like a pretty unlikeable guy." Right when Pete said that, I heard the sound of someone clearing their throat and whirled around to see Michael standing by the front door. Apparently he had been in the house all this time.

"Hi, Michael, good to see you!" I said. Michael had a strange look on his face and I hoped he wasn't mad at me for telling Pete about Larry. We got up and walked up the front steps. Pete shook Michael's hand when we got to the top.

"Nice to see you, Michael." Pete said.

"You too, Pete. Was I interrupting something?" I blushed; Michael had a way of saying things that made it seem like we were doing something inappropriate.

"Nope, we were just talking." I replied with a smile.

Pete seemed slightly panicked when he said, "I should get going, Lily. I have to start on my homework. See you tomorrow?" I nodded and Pete left rather quickly. We didn't get to kiss each other goodbye because Michael was standing right there. I walked through the front door, leaving Michael standing outside. I was actually kind of glad for the interruption because I didn't want to think about Larry anymore.

Michael cornered me while I was in the kitchen getting a glass of water. "Everything okay, Lily?" I just nodded and turned away from him, not wanting to give anything away. Talking about Larry had made me upset. Michael came up to me and put his arm around my shoulders. "You are the worst liar, Lil. Just tell me what's wrong." I shrugged Michael's arm off my shoulders and sat on the counter instead.

"Pete asked me why my last name is Sizemore and not Westen. I ended up telling him about Larry." Michael's face was blank. "I didn't want to lie to him, Michael."

"Did you tell him everything?" Michael asked. He leaned on the counter next to me and waited for my response.

I rolled my eyes. "No, of course I didn't tell him everything. I just told him about when I was little, and how Larry came back to find me last year." Michael seemed to relax after he was sure I didn't tell Pete absolutely everything. "It's not like I told him my own father hit me over the head with a gun."

Michael gave me a look. "I know you wouldn't tell him that, Lily."

"I just didn't want to keep any more secrets from him, you know? He already thinks you're my uncle and that's weird enough. I just felt like he should know what baggage I have if he's going to be my boyfriend." Michael shook his head.

"You don't have baggage, Lily! It's not like you're damaged just because you have a psychopath for a father. I hope you know that." I shrugged.

"Normal people don't have nightmares that their fathers are trying to kill them and are threatening their families. Normal people don't get attacked by their fathers in the middle of the night."

I jumped off the counter and walked out of the kitchen. I wished I hadn't told Pete anything. Now he would probably just pity me. I heard footsteps behind me and pretended I didn't hear. "Lily, don't just walk away." I was half way up the stairs and I stopped and turned around. Michael was standing at the bottom of the stairs and he motioned for me to come back down. I trudged down the steps and sat down on the bottom stair. Michael sat next to me and seemed to debate what to say. "You can't just walk away from your problems, kiddo. You've been dealt a tough hand and I know it's hard, but you just have to learn to deal with it." I nodded and looked away. I was tearing up and I didn't want Michael to see. "I'm actually glad you told Pete about Larry. I know it's hard to have a relationship with someone when you have to keep secrets, and I know Pete isn't going to think differently of you because you told him the truth." I leaned my head against Michael's shoulder and he put his arm around me.

"You really think he's not going to run screaming after what I told him?" Michael laughed.

"No, I don't think he's going anywhere, Lily. He knows he'd have to deal with me then." I had to laugh at that comment.

"Yeah, he knows you're keeping a close eye on him. You should try to be nice to him, Michael."

"I'm always nice!" Michael sounded offended, but I knew he was just joking. Right at that moment, grandma walked in the front door with groceries in hand. When she saw Michael and I sitting on the staircase she smiled.

"Look at you two having a tender moment! I should go get my camera!" Grandma put down the groceries like she was going to find her camera and Michael and I both shot up at the same time. We carried the groceries into the kitchen and grandma's face fell when she saw us. "You know," she said pointedly, "You two act like you're on the America's Most Wanted list or something whenever I mention taking a picture."

Michael rolled his eyes while he was putting the milk in the refrigerator. "Ma, not everyone is as into photography as you. Plus, you get to see Lily's beautiful face every day!"

Grandma smiled and kissed me on the cheek. "Speaking of beautiful, did you see those curtains your friend had delivered to the house?" I looked at Michael with curiosity.

"Oh, how nice." Michael looked slightly annoyed. He left the kitchen and walked out the back door and I followed him, wondering who this friend was. Michael headed towards the garage where the Charger was parked.

"Who's your friend?" I asked when Michael saw I was behind him.

"He's someone who wants to help me get my job back." I nodded, wanting to ask more questions. Michael had the window cleaner out and was wiping the windows on the Charger.

"Is he trustworthy?" I knew it was a stupid question, but I was always a wary person and I knew Michael sure as hell was.

Michael hesitated before he answered. "I don't know. Fi and Sam don't seem to like him, but I think he has a lot of connections that might help me."

"Oh…" I couldn't think of anything else to say so I just watched Michael work on his car.

"How's the driving going, Lily?" Michael had been working with me a lot on my driving, but with all the burn notice stuff he hadn't had much time. Luckily grandma had been better about letting me drive when we went different places. I leaned against the hood of the car and shrugged.

"It's going well. I still have forever to wait till I get my license though." Michael nodded and leaned next to me.

"Do you feel ready yet?" He asked. He was folding the window cleaning rag in his hands.

"Yeah, I feel good about it." I paused, having a funny thought. "The only thing I really need to work on is high speed chases. You know, being around you I can never be too careful. How about we take the Charger out right now?" Michael could tell I was joking and he ruffled my hair, completely messing it up. He knew I hated it when he did that. "Michael!" I yelled as I backed away from him.

"You asked for it, Lil. Plus, your hair looks good like that." I grabbed a rag off the work bench and tossed it at Michael and then ran out of the garage before he could catch me. As I took the back porch steps two at a time to race into the house, all the negative thoughts I had about Larry leaked out of my head and I was happy again.

…

A/N: Hello Readers! I apologize for the slow updates and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Reviews are appreciated…


	4. Chapter 4

Michael's Little Problem: Part 3

Chapter 4

Miami, FL

_Lily Sizemore's POV_

I looked around Fiona's apartment in disbelief. There were boxes all over the front hallway, and the place was almost completely packed up. I had found out earlier in the day by text message that Fi had decided to go back to Ireland and I was still in shock. I usually walked home with Pete after school, but I decided to walk over to Fi's apartment by myself, not wanting Pete to be here if I started crying. He could tell something was wrong, but he let me go anyway. I was lost in thought when Fiona came into the front room. "Lily, you didn't have to come here; I would have stopped by to say goodbye."

"I don't understand why you're leaving." I said. This seemed so abrupt to me.

Fi shook her head. "It's complicated, Lily. I just feel like it's time for me to move on. I'm going to miss everyone a lot, but I think this is best for me." Fi put her arms out and I gave her a hug.

"I'm going to miss you too, Fi. It was really nice getting to know you. Are you going to come back and visit?" Fi nodded.

"I think so. We'll still keep in touch though." Fi seemed distant, and I could tell she was having just as hard of a time as I was. I had a suspicion that Michael might be a part of this, but I didn't want to say anything.

"Alright. I should get going. I'm supposed to go see a movie with grandma tonight." Fiona smiled and gave me one last hug, and then I was out the door. As I walked home by myself, I wondered if I would ever see Fiona again. I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and called Michael. I needed to know what was going on. He answered right away.

"Hi, Lily, what's up?" I could tell he was outside because I could hear birds in the background.

"Why is Fiona leaving?" I asked, deciding to be frank.

Michael sighed. "It's a long story, kiddo. She just wants a fresh start."

"Why would she want a fresh start? Did something happen between you two?" I couldn't just let this go. Fiona was my friend.

"I think it was a combination of things. Listen, Lily, I don't really want to talk about this right now." I suddenly felt angry with Michael.

"Fine." I said, and then hung up. I knew it was a jerky thing to do, but Michael didn't call me back so I knew he wasn't really that upset about it. He didn't really seem like himself on the phone anyway. As I walked, I saw I had a text message from Pete. I opened the message and it said, _are you okay?_

I knew I would start crying if I called him, so I just opted for texting him back. _Yeah, just some family stuff. _I walked for a few minutes before he responded. I frequently checked my surroundings as I walked; even though I was mad at Michael I wouldn't be careless about my safety. He would be really upset if I was attacked or hit by a car because I was texting on my cell phone and not paying attention.

Pete didn't pry too much, he just responded, _I hope everything is okay. Wish I could be with you this weekend._

I sighed, remembering that Pete had to go to Ft. Lauderdale for a family reunion. _Yeah, me too. Text me if your family gets boring :)_

Pete told me he would, and I kept on walking, not being able to get the whole Fiona thing out of my head.

I was walking through the park that was close to our house about ten minutes later when I spotted a couple having a serious altercation. It was getting dark so there weren't any other people around to witness except for me. I instantly went on alert and stepped into the shadow of a large tree before they could see me. A man and a woman were standing about fifty feet away from me and I could tell the man was livid. I couldn't make out what they were saying, but I panicked when the man started hitting the woman. I knew I couldn't run over and help because I was surely no match for the heavyset man.

Making a split second decision, I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and dialed 911. There was barely a dial tone before a woman answered, "Please state your emergency," in a crisp voice.

I tried not to sound too panicky. "I'm at Bridgeview Park and there's a man beating up this woman. It's getting really intense!"

"Police are on the way. Do not approach the man and stay where you are." The woman said in an authoritative voice. I hung up and crouched down behind a big tree. I tried not to listen to the sounds of the man repeatedly hitting the woman, but after a few minutes the sounds of her screams were hard to tune out.

After a few tense minutes, I finally heard the sound of police sirens and that seemed to spook the angry man. He ran off towards the main street that was next to the park, and the woman was left on the ground. I debated whether I should run over to the woman to see if she was okay, but I was afraid the man would see me. Before I could make a decision I saw two squad cars speeding into the park. They pulled up right by the woman who was motionless on the ground and I made my way over.

One of the officers saw me walking towards the car and he waved me over to him. I heard the sound of more sirens and figured they probably called an ambulance for the woman. The squad cars were blocking her from my view and I was grateful for that. "Were you the one who called?" The officer asked when I was close enough. I nodded, suddenly feeling very nervous. I didn't normally talk to police officers. "What's your name and how old are you?" He asked, in a calming voice.

"Lily Sizemore and I'm 15." I stammered. I nervously reached up to tuck my hair behind my ears and I realized my face was wet. I must have been crying while the woman was brutally beaten.

"Okay, I'll need you to stay right by this car and someone will come take your statement. Don't leave until we tell you, alright?"

"Okay." The officer started to walk away, but then stopped.

"You need to call a parent or guardian as well. They'll need to be here when you make your statement." I nodded and the officer hurried over to meet the ambulance. I pulled my cell phone out again and dialed our house. Grandma would probably freak out when I told her what happened. She always hated me walking through the park at night, but it was so much faster. I didn't even want Michael to know about this. He would surely have an issue with me walking by myself. The phone rang a couple times, but then it went to the answering machine. My stomach dropped; grandma was always home, but the one time I needed her to answer the phone she wasn't there. I dialed her cell phone but again, she didn't answer. I felt exasperated, and I didn't know what to do. I really didn't want to call Michael, especially since the police were involved. Michael didn't exactly have a spotless record.

I gritted my teeth and dialed his cell, knowing I didn't have any other option. Michael, of course, answered right away. "Lily, I really don't have anything more to say about Fiona." Of course he would think I was calling to talk more about Fiona. He couldn't have been more wrong.

"Michael, I'm not calling about that. Something happened while I was walking home. I saw this man beating up this woman and I called the police. Now I need a parent or guardian to come here because I need to make a statement and Grandma didn't answer. I figured I'd call you before Larry." I was annoyed and I hoped Michael could tell.

Michael sighed and I knew he wasn't happy about the police. "Cut the attitude, Lil. Where are you?"

I fought the urge to snap back at him. "I'm at Bridgeview Park right by the house. You'll see the police lights."

"I'll be there in five minutes." Michael hung up, and I folded my arms across my chest. Of course something like this would happen on a day when I was already in a terrible mood. I was brought out of my thoughts when a man in a suit walked up to me. He looked to be about Michael's age and he was very tall with dark hair.

"Are you Lily Sizemore? The one who called this in?" He gestured toward the ambulance.

"Yes." I replied. This man looked to be a detective and it made me even more nervous. His presence was intimidating.

He held out his hand. "I'm Detective Coughlin. Can I ask you a few questions?" I shook his hand and nodded. "Okay, how did you come to be walking through the park tonight?"

"I was walking home from school." The Detective looked at his watch, and I hastily added, "I visited a friend after school and then I was walking home after. That's why it was later than usual." He looked like he was about to say something else, but then I saw Michael walking up and I waved. He walked up to us and put an arm on my shoulder.

"You okay, Lily?" I nodded and Detective Coughlin put his hand out.

"Mr. Sizemore? I'm Detective Coughlin. I was just asking your daughter some questions." I shook my head; there were so many things wrong with that sentence it was almost comical.

Michael quickly corrected him. "Nice to meet you, Detective; let's clear up a few things here. I'm Michael Westen, and Lily lives with my mother. Her father is out of the picture. My mother didn't answer the phone, so Lily called me." Detective Coughlin wrote all this down.

"My apologies, Mr. Westen." He said briefly. He turned back to me. "Before Mr. Westen walked up I was about to ask you if you usually walk through the park at night by yourself." I immediately felt like I was being chastised and I felt my face get red.

"Uh, well I don't do it all the time; it's just a lot faster to cut through." I could feel Michael's eyes boring into me and I purposely didn't return his gaze. I knew I would get an earful for this later.

"Hmm, in the future I would suggest you don't walk through here by yourself. Can you tell me exactly what you saw tonight?" I ran a hand through my hair, trying to get over my embarrassment.

"Well, I was sort of lost in thought when I was walking down the path, and then I heard loud voices. There was a man standing next to a woman and they were arguing about something. I couldn't hear because I was so far away. I backed into the shadows so they wouldn't see me because I was scared, and all of a sudden the man just started hitting the woman. That's when I called the police." Before the Detective could ask another question, Michael cut in.

"What was the man wearing and how far away were you?" I knew he couldn't help himself and Detective Coughlin seemed annoyed.

"Sir, I'll ask the questions if you don't mind." Michael nodded but I could tell he was fired up. Both he and the Detective seemed to have pretty large personalities.

"How was the man dressed, Lily?" I almost laughed that he asked the same question. Detective Coughlin wasn't laughing though, so I quickly sobered up. This man seemed like a no-nonsense type of guy.

"He had jeans on and I think it was a red polo shirt. He was a heavyset man and he had dark hair. He was at least a head taller than the woman." I hoped I was helpful. My feet were starting to hurt from standing for so long and I just wanted to go home. Michael seemed to notice my discomfort.

"Any more questions, Detective? It's getting late." Michael looked at his watch. I could feel the tension in the air, and I could tell Michael and Detective Coughlin were not getting along.

"Just give me a few more minutes, Mr. Westen." Michael huffed and walked away to check out the crime scene. Coughlin asked me a few more questions, and then he took some basic information, like my address and what school I attended. Finally, after about fifteen minutes of questioning I was allowed to go. Michael signed my statement and we were off with the warning that Coughlin might have some more questions for me at a later date. Once we were out of earshot, Michael rounded on me.

"Lily, we've talked about walking by yourself at night. What were you thinking?" We got in the Charger and started driving.

"Ugh, I know! I was just trying to get home faster and I didn't want to have to walk all the way around." I just wanted to get home so I didn't have to be around Michael. I was still upset about Fiona and I didn't want to talk to him. And with the added trauma of hearing that woman get beat up, I was ready to crawl into bed and forget this night.

"That doesn't mean you should sacrifice your safety. Now we have to deal with that detective; it sure didn't seem like that woman was alright and chances are he'll have more questions for you." I rolled my eyes. We pulled up to the house and I saw grandma's car wasn't in the driveway.

"No, _I_ have to deal with the detective. It's not _your_ problem! And I won't walk through the park by myself ever again. Can I go now?" I knew I was being a brat, but I just didn't care.

Michael sighed. "I know you're upset about Fiona leaving, but there are a lot of things you don't understand, Lily. We can talk about it if you want."

I shook my head and got out of the car. "We don't have to talk about anything. Thanks for coming, and I'll see you later." I made my way into the house and didn't look back.

…

A/N: Let me know what you think! The next chapter is a crazy one, so get ready!


	5. Chapter 5

Michael's Little Problem: Part 3

Chapter 5

Miami, FL

_Lily Sizemore's POV_

The next day was Saturday, and I couldn't sit still. I was still pretty torn up about Fiona leaving and I knew Michael wouldn't want to talk about it. Plus, now I had to worry about Detective Coughlin asking me more questions about the beating I had witnessed the previous night. Grandma was out running errands so I didn't have anyone to talk to. She had been horrified last night when she found out what I had witnessed, but I assured her everything was fine. I didn't want to bother Pete while he was with his family, so I decided to go for a run. It was a gorgeous day outside, and maybe this would help me get my mind off the Fiona situation. I quickly put on my running clothes and I grabbed my house keys. I debated whether I should bring my cell phone or not, and then decided I should bring it with me. I slipped my phone into the pocket of my shorts. I hated running with stuff in my pockets, but I knew I needed the cell phone in case of an emergency.

I took my house key off the ring and slipped the key onto my shoe lace and tied my shoe. I had found that the best way to carry keys was to tie them to my shoes. I had been leaving my keys underneath the flower pot outside the front door, but one day when I got back from running, Michael was standing by the front door with my keys in his hand. He told me not to leave them there again and I had been forced to improvise. Shaking myself out of my thoughts, I walked out the front door. I groaned when I realized I would have to untie my shoe again to lock the door.

Twenty minutes later, I was running my familiar path. I loved running when I was really upset about something. The bad thoughts seemed to just float out of my head as I ran, and I always felt better when I finished. I listened to the buzz on the streets as I ran; little kids running around outside an ice cream shop, dogs barking in the park, and street vendors selling their food. I always loved to people watch when I ran; it always made it more interesting and helped me to keep unwanted thoughts out of my head. I ran for about thirty more minutes, and then I arrived at the beachfront. There weren't a lot of people around since it was still pretty early in the day, so I just sat in the sand and watched the waves for a little while. I always liked to take a break in the middle of my run so I could catch my breath.

I sat at the beach for about fifteen minutes, and I was just about to get up when I felt a presence behind me, and then an object pushed against my back. I stiffened in shock. "Get up." The voice behind me said. It was a man's voice and I quickly got up and turned around. A tall, lanky man with dark hair was staring down at me and he had a gun in his hand. He had the gun hidden pretty well, but I could still tell it was pointed at me. _I really need to stop going to beaches_, I wildly thought to myself as I stared at this man. I looked around me, but nobody else at the beach seemed to know that I was being held at gunpoint.

"What do you want?" I asked, my voice shaking. The man smiled cruelly.

"I want you to come with me right now, Lily Sizemore." How did this man know my name? I kept my feet firmly planted.

"Who are you?" I asked. I sounded a lot more confident than I felt. The man rolled his eyes and roughly put his arm around my shoulder. I wanted to pull away, but I knew if I tried to run he would shoot.

"My name's Strickler. I'm Michael's new boss. Now walk with me." We began walking back towards the road and I wracked my brain trying to think who this guy would be. Michael had mentioned a man a couple weeks ago that was helping him with the burn notice. Could this be the man that bought the curtains for us? I felt my cell phone in my pocket and I was itching to pull it out. There was no way I would be able to get a phone call or text out without this guy noticing. Knowing I had absolutely no way out of this, I began to panic. We arrived at a car and the man pointed towards the passenger door. "Hand me that phone that's in your pocket, first." I reluctantly surrendered my phone and got in the back seat of the car. My whole body was shaking as we drove, and I was afraid of making a sound.

We arrived at a nice looking condo about ten minutes later. Strickler grabbed me by the arm and led me in through the front door. As soon as we walked in the door, he led me over to a support beam and I felt the cold metal of handcuffs clasp around my wrist. Strickler grabbed my other wrist and cuffed it so I was handcuffed around the support beam. "I've been told you're quite the firecracker. I had to take precautions." The metal was biting into my wrists and I hated it. I needed to figure out what Strickler could possibly want with me.

"Who told you that?" I asked, wondering who he'd been talking to. Strickler smiled at me.

"Your father, actually." I sank to the floor, looking around me frantically. Was he already here?

Strickler saw my reaction and shook his head. "He's not here. Not yet, at least. You see, when I found out who you were, I instantly knew you were trouble. With a father like that, I knew you'd be holding Michael back with all your problems. As Michael's new boss, I can't have that. I also can't have a bomb-making girlfriend hanging around for that matter." My stomach was churning at what Strickler would say next. Nobody knew I was here and I was sure of it. I hoped Michael at least knew that Fiona was in trouble too. "I got in touch with your father when I found all this out, and he said he would love to take you off my hands."

I shook my head frantically at him. "You don't know anything about my father. He'll take me off your hands, but then he won't hesitate to kill you."

"I made a deal with your father, and I'm pretty sure he's not going to kill me if he wants to know some sensitive information I promised to give him. Excuse me while I make a phone call." Strickler turned away from me and punched in a number on his phone. I pulled at the handcuffs on my wrists, hoping one was a little loose, but I could tell there was no way of escaping.

I was lost in thought when Strickler was talking on the phone, and I looked up when he turned to me. "Your father should be here in a little while. He said he's really anxious to see you." I felt like throwing up at the thought of seeing Larry. We sat in silence for a long time, and I knew Larry would be here any moment. Maybe I would have a chance to find a phone once Larry had me. I heard a car door slam a couple minutes later when Strickler was on the phone once again, and I closed my eyes, not wanting to see Larry walk through the door with a smug look on his face.

"Where is she?" My head snapped up at the familiar sound of Michael's voice. Michael's eyes widened when he saw me sitting on the floor, and I pushed myself up off the floor. "What the hell is going on here?" Michael had a murderous look on his face and when Strickler still didn't hang up the phone, and he knocked over a set of cabinets with a loud crash. "You tell me where Fiona is now!" Michael shouted.

Strickler hung up the phone and fixed Michael with a level stare. "She wanted to go back to Ireland, I just helped out a little." He pointed at me. "Her father's coming for her in a couple minutes."

Michael's face was a mask of rage. "You sent Fiona to her death, and you have another thing coming if you think you're giving Lily away to her father."

Strickler was getting angrier. "Well, what do I care what happens to the girl? After she leaves with her father, it's out of my hands. As for your girlfriend, she's a big girl, she had it coming." Michael took a step towards Strickler and he pulled out his gun, feeling threatened. "Stay back! We're just gonna sit here and wait for all this to be over and then we can move on!" Strickler locked the door as he said this.

"What the hell are you doing?" Michael was practically vibrating with anger.

Strickler rolled his eyes. I pulled hard at the handcuffs, but there was no way I was getting out. Larry would walk through the door at any moment and we were doomed. "You don't get to have all these dangerous people in your life if you're working with me. Once we get past this we can finally get somewhere! Put all this in the past, Westen!" Michael and Strickler were circling each other. Strickler was blocking the door with his gun pointed at Michael and Michael was standing with his back to me. I saw the gun tucked in the back of Michael's jeans and I knew what he was going to do.

"They aren't my past." Michael said. Before Strickler could react, he pulled the gun out of the back of his jeans and shot Strickler in the chest twice. He went down like a ton of bricks, and I screamed. I had never seen Michael shoot anyone before and I was in shock. I closed my eyes for a few seconds, and all of a sudden Michael was in front of me. I jerked away involuntarily and Michael grabbed my arm to steady me. "Lily, where are the keys?" He was grabbing the handcuffs that circled my wrists.

"I don't know! Larry is gonna walk in any minute!" I pulled at the handcuffs some more.

"Just relax or you'll hurt yourself, Lily. I'm gonna use your hairpin." Michael pulled the pin that clipped my bangs back out of my hair and straightened it out. My hands were shaking so badly I couldn't keep still. "Stop moving." Michael said shortly. I knew he was trying to move as fast as possible. I tried my hardest to stop the shaking, and Michael had the handcuffs off shortly after that. "Let's get out of here." Michael handed me my cell phone and I put it in my pocket. He must have grabbed it out of Strickler's pocket. We ran towards the front door and I almost ran into Michael when he skidded to a stop. "He's here." Michael cursed loudly, and grabbed my arm. He pulled me into the kitchen area and we stepped into a huge closet, probably a pantry. Michael closed the door and it was pitch black in the little area. There was only one door in the condo and that was the front door, so we weren't getting out of this easily. I felt like I was in one of my nightmares, and I couldn't seem to catch my breath. I was frantically flailing my arms, trying to find something to grab on to so I could steady myself. Michael put his hands on my shoulders and I jumped a mile. "Lily, you need to calm down. Just stay with me, alright?" I just nodded, trying not to breathe so loud.

I heard the sound of the front door opening and I gasped. Michael pushed me farther into the closet until my back hit the wall. My eyes were adjusting to the darkness and I could see Michael's face was tense. He put his finger to his lips to signal me to be quiet. I heard footsteps walking around outside the door and I did everything I could to keep silent. I started breathing faster again, and Michael put his arms around me, pulling my head against his chest. It was so quiet in the little closet that I could hear his heart beating, slow and steady. My heart was hammering in my chest. "I know you're in here, Michael! I see your pretty little car out front. I know my kid's in here too." By the sound of Larry's voice, I could tell he was smiling. I grabbed Michael's shirt and held onto it for dear life. Michael looked at me for a second and then nodded.

"I have to go out there, Lily." He whispered. "Just stay in here, and don't come out for any reason, okay?" He grabbed my hands and removed them from his shirt, and walked towards the pantry door. He slipped out silently and I was left alone. I moved as far into the corner as I could and listened. "You might as well just leave, Larry. The deal's off."

"It's the kid! Do you really think I'm just going to turn around and leave? I came here for _my_ kid and I'm not leaving until she's with me." Larry was getting angry.

"She's not here." Michael lied.

"Are you gonna make me hurt you, Michael?" I didn't hear what Michael said in response, and then I heard some scrabbling around. Michael and Larry were clearly fighting. They fought for a few minutes, and then I heard a body hit the floor. I prayed it was Larry's. I heard footsteps and I fought the urge to leave the closet. "I know you're in here too, Lily. If you make me come and find you, I might have to hurt you. Don't keep daddy waiting." Larry's voice chilled me to the bone. His footsteps got closer and closer to the closet, and I knew he would find me.

I scrambled around the dark for anything I could use as a weapon. I got my hands on a broom that was leaning on the wall in the corner and it seemed like the only weapon I would be able to find in the small closet. I had a brief mental snapshot of Strickler carefully sweeping the kitchen floor and I had the urge to laugh out loud even though I was scared out of my wits. _I must be in shock_, I thought to myself. I suddenly remembered the house key that was looped inside my shoelace. If all else failed, I would be able to use it as a last defense. I untied my shoe and grabbed the key and then stuck it in my pocket. I moved closer to the door and took a deep breath. When I was pretty sure Larry was standing right in front of the closet door, I prepared to strike with the broom. I held it like a baseball bat and waited for the door to open. My heart was beating so fast I felt like it was going to fly out of my chest.

The door swung open, and before I had time to think about what I was doing, I walloped Larry over the head with the broom. He was momentarily surprised which gave me just enough time to scramble out of the closet. I ran back into the front room, but Larry was hot on my heels. I saw Michael lying on the floor and he looked like he was unconscious; my momentary lapse in concentration gave Larry the upper hand. He grabbed me from behind by my ponytail and I fell to the floor from the force he had used to pull me back. The back of my head slammed into the floor and I was stunned. My ears were ringing and the room was spinning. Before I could attempt to stand up, Larry grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet. I tried to jerk my arm out of the death grip he had on it, but he surprised me by slapping me across the face. My head rocked back and I would have fallen to the floor again had it not been for Larry holding me up.

I looked into Larry's face and he was unhinged. "You think you can just attack your father and get away with it?" He shook me hard and my head felt like it was ready to explode. I forced myself to look him in the eye and I worked up all the courage I had left. I wouldn't let Larry overpower me. I grabbed the key out of my pocket with my free hand and prepared to strike.

"You asked for it." Before Larry could hit me again, I slammed my free hand up and slashed into his cheek as hard as I could with the key. He grabbed his face and I took that opportunity to kick him in the shin as hard as I could. He grunted in pain and I stood back, ready to pounce on him again. Larry looked at me like I was a piece of meat. There was a nasty slash on his cheek from the key, and his eyes looked crazy.

"You can't beat me, kid. You're coming with me even if I have to drag you out of here by that cute little ponytail of yours." I shook my head and charged at Larry with everything I had, hoping to knock him over. I needed to keep him occupied long enough for Michael to snap out of it. Larry was ready for me and was easily able to handle my weight. He grabbed me by the shoulders and pushed me down to the floor. My arms flailed, trying to hurt Larry any way I could. He grabbed my wrists and forced them down to the floor. The key I had in my hand skidded across the floor. I was trapped, and I could barely breathe with all of Larry's weight on me.

I saw Michael beginning to stir. "Michael!" I shouted. It came out as more of a gasp though because Larry had all his weight on my chest.

Larry grinned toothily. "You're gonna have to learn to respect me, or I'm afraid you won't live very long, kid." He squeezed my wrists for emphasis and I gasped. I had nothing left in the tank and I knew I had to surrender. Larry suddenly stood up, and while I was still recovering from having the wind knocked out of me, he grabbed me by the wrists and hauled me to my feet. "Time to go now, kid." He threw me over his shoulder and began walking towards the door. I squirmed around trying to get him to drop me, but I was already exhausted and Larry held on tight. I looked up when I heard the sound of a gun cocking, and Larry stopped walking. Michael was standing with Strickler's gun in his hand, and it was pointed directly at Larry.

"Put her down, Larry." I instantly felt relief at the sound of his voice.

Larry turned around with me still over his shoulder, and I couldn't see Michael anymore. "Kid, for once in your life just stay out of this! I'm teaching my daughter a lesson here."

"Don't make me repeat myself, Larry. I don't want to kill you in front of Lily, but I will if I have to." Larry seemed to think for a second, and I was totally unprepared when he dropped me on the ground. I landed hard on my side and hit my head on the ground again. I lay on the floor trying to find the strength to get up, but I just couldn't do it. I had probably strained a lot of muscles in the struggle and I had the worst headache I've ever had. Michael grabbed the handcuffs that Strickler had used on me and in no time he had Larry handcuffed to the same support beam that I had been. "I'm sure the police will be here in no time, so you won't have long to wait." He said, his voice all business.

"Michael, I'll get you back for this." Larry vowed. Then he turned to me with an evil grin on his face and I shrunk back. "Don't think I'll forget about you either, kid. You're mine and you always will be." I tried to pretend I hadn't listened to what Larry said, but I was chilled to the bone. Michael walked over to me and held his hand out and I grabbed it. He pulled me off the floor very slowly, and we walked out the door with Michael supporting most of my weight, leaving Larry behind.

Once we were in the Charger and driving away, Michael turned to me. I was exhausted and all I wanted to do was lie down. "Larry got me with a cheap shot and I went down like a ton of bricks. I'm so sorry, Lily." I didn't reply, and we kept driving. The day still wasn't over; Michael still had to save Fiona. I had used every ounce of energy I possessed to fight Larry, and now I was completely exhausted. All I could do was nod at Michael, then I put my aching head back on the seat and we drove on in silence.


	6. Chapter 6

Michael's Little Problem: Part 3

Chapter 6

Miami, FL

_Lily Sizemore's POV_

Michael drove at breakneck speed, and before I knew it we had pulled up to Fiona's apartment. Michael got out of the Charger and ran towards the front door while I lagged behind. Before I even made it to the front door, Michael and Sam came out. "Lily, we gotta go get Fi. Grandma's here so she can take you back to the house." I nodded and Michael put a hand on my shoulder. "I promise we'll talk later." After that Sam and Michael were off and running towards the Charger.

Grandma came out of the apartment a couple seconds later, and when she saw me her face fell. "Oh, sweetie! What happened to you?" I must have looked a lot worse than I thought. Grandma put her arms around me and we stood on the sidewalk like that for a while. I felt so scared for Fiona and so numb from my encounter with Larry that I couldn't bring myself to say anything. Grandma let go of me and looked me over again.

"I'm alright, grandma." I didn't want her to worry about me. What I really wanted at the moment was to be by myself.

"Let's just go home, honey." Grandma led me to the car and we drove home. When we walked in the door, the familiar smell of the house hit me and I realized just how close I had come to Larry taking me away from all this forever. Grandma was keeping a close eye on me and she put a hand on my shoulder. "Are you sure you're okay? Do you need me to look at anything?" I shook my head. I didn't want grandma to see all the signs of my struggle with Larry.

"I just need to go take a shower and lay down, grandma." She looked at me sadly and pulled a cigarette out of her purse. I knew she was worried since she always turned to smoking when she didn't know what else to do.

"I love you, Lily and I'm glad you're okay." Grandma went to the kitchen and I went upstairs to take a shower. I couldn't wait to clean myself up. When I looked at myself in the bathroom mirror, I finally saw why grandma was so worried. My hair was completely disheveled and I had a huge bruise forming on my face from when Larry slapped me. I was also littered with various bruises from the fight and my wrists felt swollen. I had thrown a lot of punches and Larry had gripped them pretty hard. I had no idea how I would be able to cover all this up in time for school on Monday.

After I got out of the shower, I felt a lot better, but I still wanted to be alone. After lying on my bed for a little while, I heard voices coming from downstairs and I gingerly sat up and tried to listen but I couldn't muster the energy to get out of bed. When I heard Fiona's voice mingled with Michael's, I felt so much relief that I almost felt lightheaded. I was so grateful that everyone was alright, and I gently lowered myself onto my pillow; my shoulders and legs were extremely sore and I knew some of my muscles were strained from struggling so hard. I felt a lot better now that I knew everyone was safe, but I still couldn't seem to relax. I knew I was exhausted but I couldn't fall asleep. Thoughts of Strickler pointing the gun at me, Michael lying on the floor unconscious, and Larry smiling down at me when he had me pinned kept going through my head and I couldn't stop thinking about how close all of us had come to falling apart. It was a miracle that I wasn't with Larry right now and Fiona wasn't dead.

I had put my phone on my dresser before I showered, so I picked it up and took a look at it. I saw I had three messages from Pete. I hadn't talked to him all day and the first one read, _hey, remember when we were talking about jean shirts the other day? My uncle is totally wearing one…_ I had to give a small smile at that. The next one was sent a couple hours ago, _are you feeling better today?_ And the third text had been sent a couple minutes ago while I was still in the shower. _You must not have your phone on you. Can you call me later please?_ I could never explain to Pete why I didn't have my phone all day and now I would have to lie to him some more when he saw the huge bruise on my face. I told myself I would try to call Pete later when I was feeling a little bit better, but I couldn't face hearing the sound of his voice right now.

I knew Michael had told me we would talk when he got back, but I didn't really have anything to say. This was beginning to be a normal occurrence in my life; go to school Monday through Friday and then get attacked by my father on the weekends. I tried to lay on my bed and just forget everything that was going on around me, but eventually I heard my bedroom door open. I turned my head towards the door and saw Michael standing there. "How do you feel, kiddo?" I shrugged and Michael walked into the room and sat on my bed. "Fiona's going to be fine, she's just a little banged up. Nothing she can't handle."

"That's good." I wanted to sit up so I didn't look so pitiful lying in bed, but I just didn't have the energy. Michael could probably tell I was in pain.

"What hurts?" He asked me. He prodded at the bruise on my cheek and I turned away.

"I'll be fine." I said. I knew I was being stubborn and Michael looked annoyed.

"Don't be a hero, Lily. You just fought with a man twice your size, don't say you're fine." I sat up in bed with a lot of effort.

"I'm just sore; and I have a headache." I could feel the tears coming on and I looked away.

"Did you hit your head?" I touched the back of my head to show Michael where it had slammed into the floor because I didn't trust myself to speak without crying. Michael felt around the back of my head until he found the huge bump I had.

"Ouch." I said as his fingers touched the sore area.

"Hopefully the swelling will go down tomorrow. I'll go get you some aspirin. Do you want some ice for your face?" I nodded and Michael left the room. When he came back a couple minutes later, I was still sitting up. I hoped the aspirin would kick in fast because my head was still pounding. Michael handed me the ice and I held it to my face. "It looked like you put up a good fight, Lil. How did you get Larry's face?" I knew he wanted me to tell him what happened when he was out cold on the floor.

I took a deep breath and started to fill in what Michael missed. "Larry said he knew I was in there and he was going to hurt me if I didn't come out. I knew he was going to find me in the closet so I grabbed a broom and smacked him with it as soon as he opened the door. I was going to run for the door, but when I saw you it slowed me down. He grabbed me by the hair and pulled me down to the floor and that's when he slapped me. We went back and forth for a little while and I managed to gouge his face with my house key. After that, he just overpowered me and that's where you came in I guess." I could feel my hands shaking after I told Michael what had happened and I didn't want to look at him.

"I'm proud of you, Lily. I'm sorry all this happened with Strickler and I'm sorry you had to see me do what I did to him." I remembered Michael whipping out his gun and shooting Strickler and I knew I would never forget it.

"What if you never came? I'd be gone forever." I broke off after that and the tears finally started falling.

Michael pulled me into a hug and then I was sobbing. "You can't think like that, Lily. It'll drive you crazy. We got out of there alive and that's all that matters." We sat on the bed for a while and I ruined Michael's shirt with my tears. Michael just let me cry and didn't say anything else. I think he knew I just needed to let it out. After a long silence, Michael spoke. "Why don't you just lay down for a while? I know you're exhausted."

I shook my head. "I don't want to. I'll just dream about Larry."

I pulled away from Michael and rubbed my eyes. "Lily, you stood up to Larry and fought back. You confronted him in real life, so why should you be afraid of him in your nightmares?"

I shrugged. "I don't know, it just always seems so real in my dreams." Michael stood up from the bed.

"I probably don't even need to say it, but I'll be here all night. I need to go check on Fiona, but you should really try to sleep. It'll help your body heal." I nodded, knowing Michael was right.

"I just need to call Pete first. What am I going to tell him? It's not like this bruise on my face is very subtle." Michael looked thoughtful.

"Tell him what you think he should know, Lil. It might be easier for you if Pete knows the truth… well some of it anyway." I thought about that for a second. It would be really nice not to have to lie to Pete about what happened. It was always harder for me to get over a Larry attack when I had to lie to everyone about it.

"Hmm, we'll see." Before Michael could walk out the door I had another thought. "What about Larry? Do you think the cops got him?"

Michael shook his head. "I don't know. Larry wouldn't let himself be caught too easily. I would bet he probably got away before the cops got there." Michael paused to gauge my reaction and then added, "I'm sorry, Lily. It was too much…" I knew he was talking about having the opportunity to end Larry forever.

"It's okay, and I know Michael. I know it wouldn't have been right." As much as I hated my father, that didn't mean he deserved to die. Michael just nodded and closed my bedroom door before he left.

I called Pete a few minutes later after I was sure I was completely under control. I didn't want to start crying on the phone again. He answered almost right away. "Hey, Lily. I was worried about you." He said. I smiled.

"I'm sorry, today was a crazy day to say the least." I knew he could tell by the heaviness in my voice that something was wrong.

"What's wrong?" He asked. I could hear him walking and I could tell he was probably trying to get away from his family.

I debated what to say before I answered. "My dad came into town again and things got a little out of hand."

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" It was nice of Pete to give me the option to tell him instead of demanding to know.

I decided to tell him the modified truth, minus Strickler of course. "Well, I was home alone this afternoon after I went for my run and of course that's when my dad decided to come to the door. He went through his same speech of how he wanted me to come live with him and I gave him the same answer as always. He got pretty angry with me and things got kinda physical. Michael intervened before things could get too out of hand but Larry managed to slap me across the face and now I have this huge bruise." I paused and waited with bated breath for what Pete would say.

"Oh my gosh did you call the police?" He asked, clearly concerned. I knew I would have to lie about this.

"Yeah, we did but he managed to disappear before they even showed up. I'm just so glad Michael was there. If he wouldn't have showed up I would probably be long gone now. Larry was really intent on taking me away."

"I wish I was there right now, Lil. Are you gonna be okay? Anyone would be really shaken up from that." Pete paused and then added, "I can't believe your own father would actually get physical with you."

"I wish you were here too, but I'll see you tomorrow. I'll be fine, Pete, and Larry really isn't a normal father." It felt good to have a lot of things out in the open about Larry.

"I'll come over to your house as soon as we get back. It won't be a moment too soon either; my family is so strange." I laughed, thankful that Pete was changing the topic.

"Oh, you haven't seen strange until you've met my family. By the way, did you ask your uncle where he got his jean shirt? Christmas is coming up you know…" I was thankful we had moved on to a lighter topic.

Pete and I talked for a few more minutes, but then I was just too exhausted and I had to go to sleep. I felt amazingly lighthearted after such a long day, and I was glad I had taken the time to call Pete. I knew I would most definitely have nightmares tonight, but at least I had Pete's visit tomorrow to look forward to. As I drifted off to sleep, I knew without a doubt that tomorrow would be a better day.

…

**A/N: Is anyone still reading this? I'm really sorry if you have been waiting on this chapter. I've been a little lazy with updating. Hopefully I can get back to my regular updating schedule, but no promises! Anyways, thanks for sticking with me if you've been reading MLP since the beginning, and I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it! **


	7. Chapter 7

Michael's Little Problem: Part 3

Chapter 7

Miami, FL

_Lily Sizemore's POV_

The rest of the weekend went by without incident, and before I knew it I was back at school. I had on a heavy layer of concealer to hide the bruise on my face, and nobody seemed to notice it was there. While it was nice to be able to hide my injuries, I was still feeling like an emotional wreck. I went through the school day on autopilot, and by the end of the day I was ready to get home and be by myself. I couldn't stop thinking about what had happened with Larry and Michael in Strickler's apartment and the images kept replaying in my head. I was proud of myself that I had fought back, but it scared me that Larry had been able to hurt Michael. I always thought of Michael as an invincible person, and it had shocked me to see him lying on the floor unconscious the other day.

Pete and I were pretty quiet when we walked home after school let out. Pete could tell I was upset even though I tried to hide it. I just wanted to get home so I could scrub my face clean of all the makeup. "Lily, are you sure you're okay?" I looked at Pete, suddenly feeling guilty for worrying him so much.

"I'll be fine, Pete. I'm just upset about what happened with my dad. I think I just need some time to get over what happened." Pete nodded and put his arm around my shoulder.

"I wish it would have never happened, Lily." I nodded in agreement and we walked on in silence. Pete probably thought I was cursed or something. I had told him earlier in the day about what I saw in the park, and he seemed shocked that all that could happen to me in one weekend. When we got to my house, Pete said his goodbyes and promised me he would call later to see how I was doing. I walked into the house thinking I had the sweetest boyfriend in Miami, and made my way to my room. Grandma was standing at the top of the stairs.

"How are you doing, sweetie?" She gave me a hug and followed me into my room.

"I'm okay, grandma. I'm still sore, but I think I'll live." I put my backpack on my bed.

"Michael wants you to call him, honey. He's worried about you." I sighed. I didn't feel like sharing my feelings with Michael. How could I tell him it scared me that Larry had been able to take him down? I decided I desperately needed to go for a run to clear my head.

"Okay, grandma. I'm gonna go for a run and then I'll call him when I get back." Grandma looked worried.

"Are you sure you should be exercising?" She followed me out of my room as I made my way to the bathroom.

"It'll be good for my sore muscles. I need to stretch them out. I promise I'll be careful." Grandma just nodded and went downstairs. I scrubbed my face clean of all the makeup and then changed into my running clothes. I had worn a long sleeve shirt to school because I wanted to hide all the bruises on my arms, and now that I was in my workout clothes, I could see that the bruises were really getting dark. I hoped they would fade quickly because it would get really old having to wear long sleeves to school every day.

I grabbed my cell phone and my iPod, and then I was out the door. I received a huge shock when I saw Detective Coughlin standing by his car in the front of our house. _Oh crap_, I thought to myself. He waved me over, and I knew there was no way I could hide my injuries. I suddenly wished I hadn't washed all the makeup off my face. I walked over to the detective feeling a sense of dread. "I just had a few more questions to ask you about the other night, Lily…" Coughlin trailed off after seeing me up close. "What happened to you?"

I scrambled to think of something to say. "Nothing, I just had a little accident." I said lamely. Detective Coughlin put his hands on his hips, all questions he wanted to ask me forgotten. He stepped closer to me and peered at my injuries.

"Doesn't look like an accident." He waited for me to explain with a scowl on his face. Now I was panicking and I could feel my hands shaking. I knew I couldn't explain any of this without getting Michael in trouble. The detective seemed to notice I was scared. "Look, don't be afraid. I'm just trying to help you."

I shook my head. "I don't need your help. I'll be fine." I wished I could just run away, but that would certainly put up a red flag.

Coughlin put his hand on my shoulder and his expression softened. "I know this wasn't an accident. If someone is hurting you, I need to know about it. It looks like you have a handprint on your face and that doesn't happen by accident."

I didn't even know how to get around this. "You don't understand. I don't have time to answer your questions right now." I needed to change the subject. Coughlin couldn't know what had happened the other day.

The detective's expression became annoyed. "It's fine if you don't wanna answer my questions right now, but that doesn't mean I'm just gonna go away. That woman you saw the other night didn't make it, and now we have to track down the man you saw. He's wanted for murder."

I shrugged and started walking away. "I already told you everything I saw." I wished I had never walked through the park the other night, because now I had a suspicious detective on my hands. I knew this wasn't just about an investigation anymore. He would probably be looking into every detail of my life now.

"Alright, you can't hide forever though. I'm not the kind of person who's just going to let this go. Someone did this to you and I'm gonna figure out who it was." Detective Coughlin got back in his car and drove away after that. Once he was out of sight, I immediately pulled my phone out and called Michael.

"Hey, Lily. How are you today?" Michael said when he answered the phone.

"We have a problem, Michael. The detective came back and wanted to ask more questions. He got sidetracked when he saw what happened to me this weekend. He asked me what happened but I wouldn't tell him. I don't know what to do and I know I can't avoid this."

Michael sighed. "Alright, this is a problem. Coughlin will be looking very closely into our lives, and we can't have that. I'll come over to the house right now so we can talk about how we're gonna deal with this. He'll be back."

The last thing I wanted to do right now was go wait for Michael in the house. "Can I just meet you somewhere? I need to go for a run; I have too much energy right now."

"That's fine, but I don't want you running too far, Lil. Your muscles are still strained. Why don't you run to the beach and I'll meet you there. I'll give you a ride home afterwards." I knew Michael would be worried about my injuries.

"Okay, I'll probably be there in a half hour then."

"Okay, remember to take it easy." Michael hung up and I put my cell phone back in my pocket. Once I began running I felt much better. Sure, I had all kinds of problems to deal with right now, but at this moment I was happy to be by myself doing something I loved.

I arrived at the beach about thirty minutes later, and Michael was leaning on the hood of the Charger waiting for me. "Hey." I said when I walked up to him. I was still out of breath from running and I wanted to sit down and stretch. Michael took one look at my face and shook his head.

"The bruise on your face is really dark, Lily. Have you been putting ice on it?"

I rolled my eyes, self-consciously touching my face. "Of course I have, it just keeps getting worse."

"Hopefully it'll fade quickly. How did the run go?" Michael asked. We walked over to the sand and plopped down on the ground.

"Great, I feel a lot better." I started stretching and I could feel Michael's eyes on the bruises on my arms. I wished would have worn long sleeves. "Stop staring at me like that." I snapped out of annoyance.

Michael raised his eyebrows and I looked away. "Like what? I'm just worried about you, Lily."

"Well you don't have to worry. What should I do about Detective Coughlin?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

"Well, we don't really have a lot of options. He'll probably come back with a bunch of information on you and the family." Michael didn't seem to have any idea what to do.

I huffed in frustration. "Why can't he just do his investigation and leave me alone?"

Michael smiled at me. "This is his job, Lily. If he sees something strange, then he wants to figure out what happened. A lot of detectives are like that." Michael paused and then added, "Spies are like that too. We're too curious for our own good."

I wiped away some sweat on my forehead and stared out into the water. "So should I just tell him the truth?"

Michael shook his head. "I think we should see what he comes up with first. I don't think there would be any problems if we blamed this on Larry. After all, he was the one who hurt you; you'll just have to make the detective believe a different story than what really happened."

I smiled, suddenly having a funny thought. "Wouldn't it be crazy if the police caught Larry after all these years? He wouldn't be able to hurt us anymore."

Michael immediately gave me a serious look. "I really wish I could have stopped him before he hurt you again, Lil."

I shrugged. "Me too."

Michael put his arm around my shoulders. "Something else on your mind?"

I sighed and shrugged his arm off of my shoulders so I could turn to face him. "It's just, you never lose a fight…"

"I know it may seem like that, but I've lost plenty of fights before. I have scars to prove it, just like you. Like I said, Larry just got me with a cheap shot and to tell you the truth I wasn't all there that day. I was worried sick about you and Fiona, and it's hard to admit that I let my emotions get the best of me because I know that could have cost both of us our lives that day." Michael looked down and shook his head.

"I'm not trying to blame you, Michael. I have been thinking about this a lot lately and it really scares me that Larry can get to me this easily. I mean, it was dumb luck that you showed up at Strickler's in time. Next time you might not be there in time…" I trailed off because I felt like I was going to start crying.

Michael put his arm around me again. "Oh Lily, I'm sorry you feel scared, but you can't think like that. I know it's easy to think like that, but you just have to be optimistic about it. You can't live your life in fear, all we can do is take precautions so this doesn't happen again."

I put my head on Michael's shoulder and thought about what he had said for a couple minutes. I just needed to accept that Larry wasn't going away anytime soon, and hope that I was ready for him the next time he came around. I picked my head up off Michael's shoulder when I had a sudden desperate thought. "There's still a chance that the police got him though, right?"

Michael laughed. "It would be nothing short of a miracle if that happened. Remember though, Lily, nobody can know what happened at Strickler's apartment the other day."

I nodded, my thoughts straying back to the detective again. "I know. Coughlin is so intimidating though. It might be hard for me…"

"This isn't going to be easy, Lily. You just have to stick to your story and then go from there. I just know if we try to avoid this, it's going to get worse. If you confront Coughlin now, then he'll stop digging into our lives." Michael waited for me to respond.

"This is going to be embarrassing." Michael gave me a sharp look.

"Why would it be embarrassing? You shouldn't be ashamed of what happened to you, Lily." I sighed and nervously piled sand by my feet.

"Well, I can't help it. This isn't exactly a normal occurrence, Michael. And look at me! I'm a wreck." I said, pointing at my bruises. I didn't think it was a very common thing for people to get attacked by their estranged fathers multiple times.

"I know it's not normal, but you should be proud you were able to fight back, Lily. I always wished I could have fought back when my dad was around." Michael never talked about Mr. Westen, and I didn't have very many memories of him at all. I just remembered a quick temper.

I took a deep breath. "I guess I just have to bite the bullet and get this over with. Maybe I'll get lucky and he'll never come back."

Michael stood up and held a hand out to help me off the ground. My muscles were back to their sore state from sitting on the ground and I wished the soreness would just go away. "I don't think you'll be that lucky, Lily."

I smiled as we got in the car. "I don't think so either."

…

A/N: Hello Readers! I was encouraged to know people are still reading this story! Thanks for the wonderful comments!


	8. Chapter 8

Michael's Little Problem: Part 3

Chapter 8

Miami, FL

_Lily Sizemore's POV_

The next day when I got back from my run, Detective Coughlin was waiting for me in the same spot he'd been in the day before. I sighed, thinking to myself that I should just stop exercising. I always seemed to run into people I didn't want to talk to. "Did you need something, Detective?" I asked, trying to play dumb. Coughlin had been leaning against his car, but he stood up and approached me. He was so tall, he towered over me. I fought the urge to run in the other direction but I stood my ground.

"Hmm, let's see… I just need you to tell me who roughed you up and then I'll be all set." He stood right in front of me with his arms crossed.

"Don't you have an investigation you're supposed to be working on?" I tried to sidestep Coughlin, but he just moved to the side, blocking my path.

"Sure, and I'm working on it right now. That doesn't mean I don't have time for side projects though. I did some research yesterday, and it seems you have a very interesting past. Both your parents died unexpectedly, and then you just fell into the hands of the Westen family. Now you live with Madeline Westen." I was about to interrupt Coughlin, but he kept going. "What's even stranger is the information I dug up on Madeline's son, Michael. He joined the army when he was 18, and then he jumps off the radar for twenty years. Now it appears he's back in Miami, and he's been here for a while living under the radar." Coughlin waited for me to respond, carefully gauging my reaction.

"Thanks for the family history." I replied, not being able to come up with anything else. What was Coughlin getting at with all this?

"How do you feel about Madeline's son, Michael? When I met him the other night he sure seemed like an impatient man. Does he ever get impatient with you, Lily?" Now I knew where Coughlin was going with this and I didn't like it one bit.

"Oh, do you mean does he ever get impatient enough with me that he decides to hit me?" The detective nodded. "If you think Michael did this to me, then you have another thing coming."

"Do I? Then why don't you tell me what really happened? It's clear I do not understand this whole situation." I put my hands on my hips and glared at the detective.

"Then why don't you back off?" I wished I could punch this guy in the face right about now. Coughlin sighed, trying to decide what to say.

"Because I care about what happens to you. I'm not just gonna sit here and pretend everything's alright when I can clearly see what's going on here. Who are you trying to protect?" I stepped back and thought. Why was I trying to protect Larry? I sat on the curb next to Detective Coughlin's car and thought about what to say. He sat down next to me and waited. We must have looked odd sitting on the sidewalk.

"It was my father, okay?" The detective shook his head, clearly frustrated with me.

"Your father is dead, don't play games with me." I glared at Coughlin.

"Well, he's not dead because he came looking for me this weekend." I put my arms around my knees.

"I don't understand." Coughlin was shaking his head and I knew I would have to explain more.

"I don't either, trust me. My father is a very angry man, and I have a lot of terrifying memories of him from when I was little. I remember him just disappearing one day, and he never came back. I was sent to live with the Westen's, because everyone believed he was dead. I've lived here since I was a little girl and I never heard anything about my father again until last year. I kept getting these mysterious letters from my father saying he was coming to take me back, and then this weekend he showed up." I paused, wondering to myself how crazy it was that I was making a large part of this story up on the fly.

"Why didn't you call the police when you started getting the letters?" Coughlin was looking at me with an expression of shock. Clearly he wasn't expecting any of this.

"I thought it was just a prank or something. I believed my father was dead so I thought it couldn't possibly be true that he was sending me letters." Coughlin nodded.

"Did you tell anyone about the letters?" I shook my head.

"Nobody knew about it. I guess I was kind of embarrassed that someone knew about my past and was playing a rude joke on me." I stared at the sidewalk because I was afraid that if I looked Coughlin in the eye he would be able to tell I was lying.

"That's not something you should keep to yourself, Lily." Coughlin admonished. I knew I would never keep it a secret if someone was sending me mysterious letters, but I went along with the story.

"Yeah, well I guess I made a big mistake and I paid for it, didn't I?" I pointed at my face, and Coughlin looked slightly embarrassed.

"So what happened this weekend?"

I sighed, deciding to just stick to the same story I'd told Pete so I could keep my lies straight. "He just showed up at the house when I was home alone. He tried to get me to leave with him, but I wouldn't do it. Things got physical and I was lucky Michael showed up to help me. Michael talked Larry into leaving and nothing too serious happened, just a few bumps and bruises." I shrugged my shoulders, hoping the Detective would drop it and move on.

Coughlin looked thoughtful for a couple seconds before he said, "I'm going to look into this Larry Sizemore guy. If he's alive like you say, I'm sure the government wants to bring him in for questioning." I just nodded, not knowing what else to say. Coughlin looked at me seriously and said, "If you see him again, you call the police right away, okay?"

I nodded. "I will. You won't be able to catch him though; he's pretty good at staying hidden."

Coughlin stood up from the curb and dusted himself off. He held his hand out and I grabbed it so he could help me up. "I'll see what I can do. Your father deserves to be in jail for his actions. Thanks for telling me the truth; I know this must be hard for you."

If only he knew how many lies I'd just told. "Well, I guess it feels better to tell someone. Did you need to ask me more questions about the guy in the park?"

Coughlin gave a ghost of a smile. "I actually told a little lie about that; we actually tracked down the guy this morning. Someone called the police after seeing him leaving a gas station and he's in custody now."

I almost laughed out loud at that. I guess we were both liars even though I was on a different level than the detective. "I guess I should be upset, but I'm not." Detective Coughlin shook my hand with a promise to follow up with me about Larry and then he was gone.

As I wearily climbed the stairs to the house, I realized that I felt almost back to my normal happy self. Telling detective Coughlin a bunch of lies and a couple truths had somehow helped me to feel better about my situation.

…

_Michael Westen's POV_

When I got back to the loft after meeting with a new client, I guess I should have expected Detective Coughlin to be standing by the staircase leading up to my loft. Lily had called me the other day and explained everything she had told the detective, so I was ready to face his questions. I knew without a doubt that he would be skeptical of Lily's story and I was probably still pretty high up on his list of suspects.

Coughlin was wearing a standard detective suit and he had a scowl on his face. I smiled at him, hoping to wipe the angry look on his face away, but it didn't seem to faze him. "What can I do for you, detective?" I asked, acting like I didn't know why he was paying me a visit.

"I'd like to ask you a few questions, Mr. Westen. Do you mind if we go inside?" Coughlin was fixing me with a hard stare, and I knew exactly where this conversation was headed. I took my sunglasses off and stared him down. Two could play at this game.

"Of course not, let's go inside." I led the way up the stairs and opened up the door. We stepped in the loft and I was thankful I had taken the time to stash the various weapons I had lying around. As a spy, it's important to never leave any traces of your work out in the open. Coughlin was surveying the place and I could tell he was thinking it was a dump. "Why don't you sit down, detective?" I pointed towards my favorite green chair but the detective shook his head.

"I'd rather stand." I shrugged and sat down. I was sure Coughlin wanted to intimidate me by standing while he asked his questions. It wouldn't work.

"Lily told me you came by the house a couple times last week. Still working on the investigation?" I crossed my legs and stared at Coughlin.

"We were actually able to catch the guy a couple days ago so that's all settled. I went by your mother's house the other day when we were still looking for the guy to ask Lily a few more questions and she had some suspicious bruises on her face and arms. She wasn't very forthcoming about how she got them, so I took the liberty to do some digging. I found out a lot of interesting information, Mr. Westen." Coughlin was trying to bait me into telling him about my past.

"Oh, really?" I decided to play dumb.

Coughlin nodded. "Lily seems to have a very peculiar past and it seems like she came to your family out of nowhere. What I found most interesting about all this was your history. You have a twenty year gap where you completely fall off the radar, and now all of a sudden you're here. I spoke to one of my colleagues, Detective Paxson, and she couldn't seem to explain your disappearance either."

I almost groaned at him mentioning Detective Paxson, another cop that had an interest in my past. "I was a government worker and now I'm retired. That's all I'll say about my past, detective. How does this relate to Lily?"

Coughlin was annoyed but he was trying to hide it. "Seems to me Lily would have to have had some sort of connection with your family to end up with you when her parents died. I don't think it was random that she ended up living with your mother."

I shrugged. "I don't think it matters how Lily ended up living with us. She's happy and that's all that counts."

Coughlin raised his eyebrows. "You think she's happy?"

This guy was starting to get on my nerves. "What are you getting at, Detective?"

"What do you know about Lily's father, Larry Sizemore?" Coughlin finally decided to take the direct approach.

"If you wanted to know what happened the other day, you could have just asked me. We all thought Larry was dead until this past weekend. Apparently he had been sending Lily letters but she didn't tell anyone. He showed up at my mother's house and Lily was home alone. I had to stop by the house to pick up some broken lamps that my mother needed fixed and when I walked in the door, Larry was being really rough with Lily. I talked him into leaving, and that was what happened." I waited for Coughlin to respond. I knew Lily's and my stories matched up perfectly.

"You expect me to believe her dead father came back and attacked her? Sounds to me like you're trying to cover something up." I could feel my anger rising and I could tell Coughlin was accusing me of hurting Lily.

"I know it seems convenient to blame me, but I would _never_ lay a finger on Lily. If you're going to accuse me of hurting her, then I suggest you leave." I stood up from my chair and pointed towards the door.

Coughlin put his hands up. "Look, Westen, I don't know what the hell to believe. You knew Larry Sizemore before he came to the house the other day. Am I right? I looked into him and I know he did some government work. I'm just putting two and two together. I think we both know there are a lot of strange things going on here. I'm just trying to help Lily."

I walked towards the kitchen and rested my arms on the counter. I wished my temper hadn't gotten the better of me, but at least now the attention was focused on Larry. "I knew Larry from some government work we did together. That's how I met Lily. He used to leave her with me a lot when he had to run errands or do some work. He treated her really poorly and I was glad when he disappeared. I assumed he was dead until he came back this weekend. I wish Lily hadn't kept those letters he was sending a secret, but she did."

"Why didn't you call the police the other day?" I knew very well that the police wouldn't be any help to us.

"Larry is obviously very adept at hiding, and I know there's nothing the police can do to help us. I'm dealing with Larry." I knew I was pushing Coughlin's buttons, but I was ready for him to leave me alone.

The detective put his hands on his hips. "Oh, so you think you can solve this problem on your own? This guy will probably be back, and Lily is going to suffer because you didn't do anything to help her."

"With all due respect, detective, you have no idea what's best for Lily. And for that matter, what business do you have digging into her life like this?" I clenched my fists and I could feel my nails digging into my palms.

"I made it my business when I saw those bruises. And it doesn't look like you know what's best for her either, Westen. The kid's got a huge bruise on her face for crying out loud! She needs help, and I'm gonna track this guy down." Coughlin headed for the door.

"Lily's a great kid and I know she didn't deserve what happened to her the other day. If I could have done something to stop what happened I would have, and I'm going to get even with Larry. Go ahead and try to find him if you want to, but I'm telling you, you're opening a can of worms you don't want to get into. I suggest you back off." The detective paused with his hand on the doorknob.

"Are you threatening me?" Coughlin's voice was icy.

I put my hands up again, "No, detective. I'm trying to help you. Trust me, Larry Sizemore is dangerous."

Coughlin opened the door and looked back at me. "I'm not leaving this alone, Westen." He closed the door without waiting for me to answer, and I heard him clomping down the steps.

...

A/N: I've been thrilled with all the positive feedback I've been getting! Thanks for all the support, readers!


	9. Chapter 9

Michael's Little Problem: Part 3

Chapter 9

Miami, FL

_Lily Sizemore's POV_

After all the drama with Larry and then the aftermath of having to lie to Detective Coughlin about what really happened, things in my life went back to a relatively normal state. Once that happened, time seemed to pass at an incredibly fast rate, and before I knew it I was two weeks away from winter break. At the moment, I was sitting on a stool with all of my homework spread out on Michael's kitchen counter. It wasn't a usual occurrence for me to be at Michael's loft during the week, but Grandma decided to go on a little trip to New Orleans with one of her lady friends and she didn't want to leave me alone. Grandma asked Michael to watch me for the week and he agreed. I felt bad about imposing on Michael's space for the week, but he didn't seem to mind. And it's not like I was eager to be alone in Grandma's house, especially after all the craziness with Larry.

I looked behind me at Michael, who was sitting on his favorite green chair; and saw he was working on some kind of device he had in his hand. I couldn't even begin to guess what it was so I just turned around and went back to my work. My phone buzzed when I was halfway into a complicated math problem and I looked at the caller ID. The text message was from Pete, so I opened it up. He had been out sick from school, and I hoped we would be able to talk on the phone. _Hey, I'm finally feeling better but I think I'm just gonna go to bed early so I don't miss another day tomorrow. I'll meet you by your locker tomorrow morning, Lil. _

I smiled, glad Pete was feeling better and that we would see each other tomorrow morning. _I'm glad you feel better. Can't wait to see you tomorrow ._ I sent the text to Pete, and I was flipping through some old messages when Michael interrupted me.

"I thought you were supposed to be doing homework." He was up from the green chair and on his way to the fridge, no doubt in search of a yogurt.

I looked back at him with raised eyebrows. "Sorry, homework police. I'll get right on it."

Michael laughed as he rummaged around in the refrigerator. When he stood up and closed the door, yogurt in hand, he had a sarcastic smirk on his face. "I run a tight ship around here, Lily."

I rolled my eyes. "Uh-huh. You sure do. I'm almost done with my homework anyway."

Michael looked at his watch. "That's good. It's getting late. I have a meeting with a client tomorrow morning, so I'll drop you off at school on the way."

"Alright, sounds good. I don't mind walking though." I finished my last math problem and started putting my books back into my bag.

"It's not a big deal, Lil." Michael threw his finished yogurt into the garbage and went back to his green chair. I put my bag by the front door and then went upstairs to the little area that housed the couch I slept on and a little dresser of clothes. I set out my outfit for the next day and then got ready for bed. It had been a long, boring day without Pete there to keep me company, and I was looking forward to seeing him again. I said goodnight to Michael, and lay down on the couch to go to sleep. I loved sleeping at Michael's loft because I knew I was guaranteed to get a nightmare-free night of sleep. I always felt so safe when Michael was around, and the nightmares never bothered me.

…

I slept like a rock, and before I knew it my alarm clock was buzzing. The sleep button was calling my name, but I knew that was not a good idea. I had forgotten to set my alarm the first night I was staying with Michael, and his method of waking me up had been clapping his hands loudly and pulling the blankets off me. He seemed to think it was funny, but I thought differently. I dragged myself out of bed and made my way downstairs to the bathroom. Michael was already dressed and sitting by the kitchen counter reading the newspaper. "Good morning, Lily. You look like you're still sleeping."

I rubbed my eyes and stared at Michael. "It's too early."

Michael shrugged. "Not for me. I was up a couple hours ago. I went for a run and showered and dressed, all before you even got up."

"Huh." I wished I could be that energized in the morning, but that would never happen. Once I was dressed, I sat at the kitchen counter next to Michael and poured a bowl of cereal. My stomach was feeling kind of upset, so I hoped after I ate the feeling would go away. I felt slightly better after eating, but the feeling was still there. After I packed my lunch, we left for school. "Where is your meeting?" I asked Michael as we drove.

"It's actually on Fisher Island. I'm meeting Fi by the ferry. You've been there, right?" I nodded, remembering the time Grandma took me there just to look at all the mansions. Fisher Island was known for very expensive homes, which were filled with people who lived exceedingly extravagant lives.

"Did some rich person lose their dog?" I asked, picturing Michael and Fiona being paid top dollar to find a poodle.

Michael smiled. "Something like that." We drove in silence the rest of the way to school, and Michael told me he would see me later before he drove off.

A couple hours later, my stomachache had turned into something much worse. I was now feeling very nauseous, and I had the chills. All I wanted to do was leave, but I knew Michael was probably busy, and there was no way the school nurse would let me walk home. I would just have to tough it out for the rest of the day. The second Pete laid eyes on me when we met at my locker to go to lunch, he shook his head. "You're sick." He stated.

"Ugh, I know. I don't wanna go home though. There's nobody to pick me up. I think I have what you had." Pete shook his head.

"Then you should leave now before you start throwing up. I'm sure someone will be able to pick you up. I wish I could just give you a ride, but that's not allowed. Is Michel busy or something?"

I shrugged, not wanting to get into Michael's schedule. I was pretty sure he would figure something out for me if I was sick, but I just hated to bother him. I knew I couldn't wait another hour though, so I told Pete I'd call him later and I left to go to the nurse's office. I had never been to her office before, so I felt a little awkward opening the door. "Can I help you?" She asked when I walked in. The nauseous feeling was getting worse, and I just wanted to sit down.

"I think I might be getting the stomach flu. I just don't feel good and I want to go home." The nurse stood up from her desk and looked at me with a concerned look.

"You're not the first person to say that today. I think there might be some kind of bug going around. What's your name?" She went over and picked up her thermometer and came back.

"Lily Sizemore." I replied. She handed me the thermometer and I stuck it in my mouth. After a few seconds, there was a beeping noise and the nurse shook her head.

"You have a fever, so I think it's best we call your parents to come pick you up. Why don't you sit on that chair by the phone and you can call your mom or dad. Just hand me the phone when you're done so I can talk to them." I almost rolled my eyes, knowing I didn't want to explain to this lady that I didn't have parents to call. Well, I didn't have any parents I _wanted_ to call.

"Well, I don't live with my parents so I'll call my uncle." She nodded, looking embarrassed, but I pretended not to notice. I dialed Michael's number, feeling guilty I needed to bother him. He answered right before I thought the voicemail would pick up.

"Hello?" Of course he wouldn't recognize the phone number.

"Michael, it's me." I started.

"Lily? You sound terrible. What's wrong?" Michael immediately sounded concerned.

"I think I have some sort of flu bug. I have a fever, so I need to go home. I'm sorry." My face was flushed with guilt.

Michael sighed. "Oh gosh, Lil. Any other day and I'd be there in a heartbeat, but Fi and I are right in the middle of something right now…" Michael thought for a few seconds. I heard Fi talking, but I couldn't make out what she was saying. "We're still on the island so I wouldn't be able to get there for at least an hour. I'll call Sam. I know he'll be able to pick you up."

"I don't wanna bother him. I can just wait for you." I felt mortified at the thought of Sam coming to my school and picking me up.

"No, Lil. You're sick and I don't want you sitting around in there. Fi is calling Sam right now; I'm sure he'll be happy to do it." I tilted my head so it was resting in my hand.

"Okay. The nurse needs to talk to you."

"Alright, put her on." Michael said. I handed the phone to the nurse, and she put it to her ear and began talking to Michael. She hung up after a few minutes, and I wondered what Michael had said to her.

The nurse smiled at me. "Do you want to go lay down while you wait to be picked up?"

"I think I'll just sit in the chair." I replied. If I was being honest, I was afraid if I stood up I would throw up all over the floor but I didn't want to tell the nurse that.

I was glad Sam was going to pick me up, but at the same time I felt guilty. He was probably right in the middle of doing something really relaxing like sitting at a bar, and now he was stuck picking me up from school. I felt mortified thinking about it, so I just sat in the chair trying to think happy thoughts. After about fifteen minutes, I heard Sam's voice right outside the door. "That's right, it is Tommy Bahama. You have a good eye for fashionable clothing, sir!" Sam opened the door to the nurse's office and grimaced when he saw me. "You look like Christmas was cancelled this year, cupcake."

I just shrugged and stood up. My stomach lurched while we walked down that hall, and I began walking faster. "I need to get out of here."

Sam looked at me and picked up the pace as well. "Oh, boy. Just take deep breaths." The feeling seemed to go away for a little while, and I was able to make it to the car without vomiting. Once we started moving, I knew I was in trouble. We made it all the way to the loft before I couldn't take it anymore. As soon as Sam stopped the car, I opened the door and ran to the side to throw up. Sam wisely left me to do my thing and went to open the door. After I was done, I felt a little better, but I was still achy and cold. I could tell my stomach was far from finished with me, but I was glad to be feeling better at least temporarily.

Sam was sitting by the kitchen counter drinking a beer when I walked in. "Thanks for picking me up, Sam."

"No problem, kiddo. You should probably go lay down. How about taking some Tylenol?"

I shivered at the thought of putting anything in my body, and just shook my head. "I'll be upstairs. You don't have to stay with me. I should be able to handle it from here."

Sam shook his head. "I'm not leaving you here like this. Mike should be home in an hour or so; things got complicated on the island."

I nodded, and continued up the stairs, happy to be able to lie down.

…

Two hours later, I was lying on the bathroom floor. What was the point of leaving the bathroom if I was just going to run back twenty minutes later? I kept thinking I was done throwing up, but more would come. Sam let me have my space which I was very thankful for.

I must have nodded off, because I was shaken awake after a few minutes. When I opened my eyes, Michael was staring down at me. "Sam says you've been in here for over an hour, I just wanted to make sure you were alive."

"I got tired of running to the bathroom." Michael smiled and put his hand on my forehead.

"You're burning up, Lil. Let's go get you some Tylenol. Then you can lay on my bed; it's not good to be on the floor like this."

I shook my head. "I just wanna stay here." I curled up on the floor again, but Michael wasn't going to leave me alone.

"Not gonna happen, kid." He grabbed my arms and slowly pulled me to my feet. My head spun with the sudden movement and I groaned, already missing my comfortable spot on the tile floor. Michael led me out of the bathroom and sat me down on a kitchen stool. I put my head in my hands as he began rummaging through the cupboards looking for the Tylenol.

After he found the Tylenol, he took a few pills out and plopped them on the counter in front of me with a glass of water. "I won't be able to keep anything down." I said, fixing the little pills with a hard stare.

Michael leaned on the other side of the counter watching me. "You need to try, Lily." I shrugged and took the pills.

Twenty minutes later, I was still vomit free and sitting in front of a plate of crackers, thinking it was a strange feeling to be afraid to eat. "I don't wanna throw up again, Michael." I complained. Michael was standing on the other side of the kitchen counter fixing me with a stare.

"If you think like that then you'll never eat again, Lil. You won't know until you try." I rolled my eyes at him and picked up a cracker.

"Who decided you were the boss? Sam was much nicer…" I muttered to myself.

Michael raised his eyebrows. "If I wasn't here right now, you'd still be hugging the toilet." I shrugged and did some more staring at the cracker. Michael huffed after a few minutes, and I knew he was getting impatient. "I'll make you a deal, Lil. You eat one cracker and we can watch that movie you've wanted to see."

I brightened up after he said that. "Love Actually?" I narrowed my eyes. "You don't even have a TV." I was going to make sure that he held up to his end of the bargain.

Michael chuckled. "Fiona has an extra TV I can borrow. Since when did you start to doubt me? I don't make deals I can't deliver on."

I thought about that for a second. "Remember that time you told me you'd get me a new phone if I got grandma to stop calling you before eight in the morning?"

Michael narrowed his eyes at me. "The deal expires in 10, 9, 8…"

"Oh, come on!" I shouted over his counting. I shoved the cracker into my mouth before he could keep going. "Happy?" I said after I'd finished chewing.

Michael smiled. "Yep. How about you take a nap now? Hopefully your fever will break soon." I was all too glad to get into bed after eating the cracker. I hopped into Michael's bed and he pulled the covers over me. "Oh, wait. Did you still want to lie on the bathroom floor?" He asked sarcastically.

"Shut up." I muttered to him before closing my eyes. As much as I hated to admit it, Michael had helped me a lot, and a warm bed was much better than a cold tile floor.

…

A/N: Thanks for reading! Things are about to pick up again, so look for another update at some point next week! As always, feedback is greatly appreciated.


	10. Chapter 10

Michael's Little Problem: Part 3

Chapter 10

Miami, FL

_Lily Sizemore's POV_

I ran up the stairs to the loft two at a time, and was surprised to see the door open. "Hey Michael! I wanted to tell you I forgot my –" I had reached the top of the stairs and was shocked at what I saw. Michael and Sam were standing over a dead body, guns in hand. "Cell phone here…" I finished my thought for lack of anything better to say

Michael looked at me sharply. "Lily, get in here and close the door. We don't know who's out there." I stepped into the loft and slammed the door behind me.

"Michael, did you –" Before I could finish, a voice that was eerily familiar interrupted me from the second level of the loft.

"Hey pal, sorry about the mess." My head shot up, and I was staring right at my father, Larry Sizemore. My stomach dropped, and I immediately stepped closer to Michael so I could stand behind him.

"Larry, what the hell are you doing here?" Michael stared up at Larry in shock.

"Well it's nice to see you too Michael. And Sam, I also see you too. It's just the icing on top of the cake that my daughter just happened to stroll in too." My stomach dropped at Larry's comment, and he paused to look at Michael again. "Seriously pal, we do twenty missions on three continents, and this is how you greet me?" Larry laughed sarcastically.

"Well that was before you faked your own death and came back without a soul." Michael shot back.

"Well that's a little harsh, huh?" Larry walked down the stairs so he was at our level. I was tempted to run out the door, but I didn't want to make any sudden movements. The tension in the room had reached a dangerous level.

"What made you think I ever wanted to see you again, Larry? Haven't you done enough damage over the past year?" Michael had his gun trained on Larry.

"Oh, come on now! Don't be like that. Look, I'm not the one who came here to kill you." Larry pointed to the dead guy on the floor. "He did! I saved your life." Larry had Michael against the ropes. While Michael stared at Larry, clearly lost in thought, Larry gestured to the dead body. "We gotta find a place to stash my latest deadee, kid. I was thinking that couch upstairs would be just perfect."

Larry was suggesting they put a dead body in the couch I slept on when I stayed at Michael's place. I cut in before anyone could say anything. "I don't think –" Michael cut me off before I could finish.

"Lily, I think you should leave. I don't want you to be involved in this." I just gaped at Michael, not really sure why he wasn't looking me in the eye when he talked to me. He turned to Sam. "Will you drive her home, Sam?"

Sam nodded. "Sure thing, brother."

"Wait a second." I ran to the kitchen counter to grab my cell phone and then walked back to where Michael was standing. Sam put an arm on my shoulder and guided me towards the door. I stared back at Michael to see if he would give me any sort of clue of what was going on, but he was staring back at Larry. Larry caught my eye and winked; I resisted the urge to vomit and continued on out the door.

Sam was a steel trap on the car ride home, so I didn't know anything more than I did when I left the loft. I didn't have much time to dwell on it though, because we had company when I walked into the house. "Grandma?" I called when I walked in the door.

"Lily, we're in here!" She called from the kitchen. When I walked in, I was shocked to see Nate with a woman sitting next to him.

"Nate!" I squealed, shocked to see him.

"Hey, Lils!" Nate put his arms out and I gave him a big hug. When we broke apart, he gestured to the woman next to him. "This is my wife, Ruby." My mouth dropped open and I had to pick my jaw up off the floor before I responded.

"Nice to meet you, Ruby." I responded, putting my hand out for her to shake. As we all scrambled to find something to talk about, I couldn't help but feel like this was the strangest day I'd had in a long time.

…

The next few days were a blur. Nate and Ruby were constantly around the house, and in my opinion they had worn out their welcome after the first night. The house was crowded, and Grandma and Ruby had already butted heads a few times. I spent most of my time hanging out at Pete's house, or spending time with my best friend, Kelsey. I didn't hear anything from Michael, and he never answered his cell phone when I called. I tried not to let it bother me that I had no idea what him and Larry were up to, but it was always in the back of my mind.

Sam and Fiona were also busy. I was constantly on my guard looking out for Larry lurking around corners, but I didn't see him either. Whatever was going on with Michael, I knew nothing about it. I voiced my fears when I got home from school on the third day after hearing nothing from Michael. "Grandma, Michael's acting weird." Grandma was washing dishes by the sink and she stopped what she was doing to look at me.

"You're going to have to elaborate a little more, Lily." She laughed.

I huffed. "Well, Larry is back in town again, and they're doing some kind of job together. I haven't heard a word from him in the past few days, and I think something is going on."

Grandma's eyes widened. "That scumbag is back in town? Michael didn't tell me anything about that and I called him yesterday. I'm sure he just wants to keep you away from him."

"Well, that's obvious, grandma. I just don't know why… wait a second! You talked to him yesterday? I've been calling for a few days and he doesn't even answer!" I put my hands on my hips and stared at grandma.

Grandma shook me off. "If you're so worried about it, then just go over to the loft. I'm sure Michael's not avoiding you, Sweetie."

I thought about that for a second, and then nodded. I had every right to know what was going on; after all, it was my father that was involved. I wanted to know what he was up to. "Okay, I'll just go over there then."

"Do you need a ride?" Grandma asked. I shook my head.

"It's nice outside today. I think I'll just run over." I felt like releasing some anger anyway. I changed my clothes and laced up my shoes, and I was out the door.

I had forgotten how far Michael's loft really was, and by the time I was about a half mile away I was exhausted. I ended up walking the last few blocks just so I could cool down. My run seemed to have the opposite effect on my anger. I was now even more fired up about this whole Larry situation. I swung open the gate to the loft, and I was surprised to see Michael sitting casually on the steps. "Michael, what the hell is going on here?" I asked, marching right up to him.

Michael frowned at me. "This is not a good time, Lily." Before I could answer, Michael looked over my shoulder, and I whirled around to see the person I least wanted to see. Larry. Michael brushed me aside and walked down the stairs to face him. I was now utterly puzzled, so I just sat down on the stairs and watched.

"Sorry. Couldn't walk away from two million bucks. Not gonna happen." Larry had an obnoxious smile on his face. It seemed like they were picking up a conversation that had started at an earlier time, which made it all the more confusing to listen to.

"I need that money." Michael snarled. He seemed more unhinged than I had seen him in a long time.

"I'll give you half of it if you do this my way. Kill Carlos." Larry held his hands up.

I saw Michael flip a switchblade open behind his back, and I abruptly stood up. "Michael, I –"

"Lily, you should leave." I was so sick of hearing Michael tell me to leave. I walked down the stairs, only too glad to step out of the battle zone, but Larry grabbed my arm before I could get any farther.

"No, I think she should stay. She should see the person you really are, Michael." I shook my head and tried to keep walking, but Larry wouldn't let me go.

Michael's face was unreadable. "My head is on the chopping block, Larry. You don't think I'll end you to save myself? You think I'll have any problem doing it in front of Lily?" Michael said in a stony voice.

"Oh I know you would. And that is what I love about you, kid. But I'm not the guy who sent people to end your life. Now all you have to do is kill him." Larry paused for a second. "You're at a fork in the road; and I know you. This is not a tough call." He stared at Michael while keeping a tight grip on my arm.

Michael shook his head, and I jumped when he started yelling. "Killing Carlos does not solve my problem. My name! It's in the air…" Michael took a few steps closer to us.

"We'll give you a new one. I'll protect you." Larry's voice was beginning to sound manic.

"You're a shoe salesman from buffalo!" Michael shouted back.

"I have connections, I have guns, and I also have what you need most. The will! The will to act on our instincts, to get what we want. And what I want is to work with you again. I'll cut the head off the whole cartel if that's what it takes." Larry stated in a desperate voice. "It's sad, really. I don't see anyone else stepping up to bail you out. I only see them dragging you down." Larry and I stared at Michael while he thought. I told myself over and over again that Michael would not listen to Larry, but I had a feeling I wasn't going to like his answer. "It's do or die time, Kid. What's it gonna be?" Larry paused again, waiting for an answer.

Michael was silent for a moment, and then his face changed to something I'd never seen before. It was scary. "I'll kill Carlos. You take care of the rest."

Larry gave a triumphant smile and released my arm. I rubbed it to get the circulation going while staring at Michael, waiting for him to snap out of it. "Now you get to meet the real Michael, kid." He laughed and walked out, closing the gate behind him.

Michael sat back down on the staircase, and I stared at him. "This isn't you, Michael."

He looked up at me with a blank face. "Who exactly do you think I am, Lily?"

I huffed. "You're not someone who agrees to kill people! Tell me you have some kind of plan besides running off with Larry."

Michael stood up. "It's time for you to leave, Lily. You've heard enough to know what I'm going to do." He walked up the rest of the staircase and disappeared into the loft. I stood there for a couple minutes, not able to move. Michael had never acted so cold to me before, and I didn't know how to react. I couldn't believe that he would just run off with Larry, but then it all kind of made sense. This was an easy escape from his burn notice, and he wouldn't have any of the problems in his life that he had now; including me.

I began walking while the horrible thoughts were circulating in my head, and before I knew it I was standing in front of Pete's house. I had unconsciously walked to the one place where I knew someone would be able to comfort me. I pulled out my cell phone and dialed Pete's number. He answered almost right away. "Hello?"

"Hey, it's me. I'm outside your house." I ran a hand through my hair and waited for his response.

"Hang on one second, I'll be right out." Pete hung up and I waited for him to come outside. As I waited anxiously, I realized that this is what I needed right now. I needed to talk to my boyfriend about my day. When Pete opened the door, he looked at me questioningly. "Is everything alright?"

All I could do was shake my head, and then I launched myself into his arms. We stood like that for what seemed like a long time; Pete rubbing my back while I cried. I was glad he didn't say anything, because I didn't even know where to begin. I finally pulled away from him, and we sat on the front steps of his house. "I had a really bad day. Bad week actually." I admitted, rubbing tears out of my eyes.

Pete put an arm around my shoulders. "Sure seems like it, Lil. What happened? You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"It's my dad. He's back again, and it's like he has Michael under his thumb. Something happened, and now Michael is going to do something terrible." I could feel more tears coming and I swiped them away.

"What's he going to do?" Pete looked at me seriously.

"I don't know, I just know it's bad." I had to lie. I didn't want to tell Pete Michael was going to murder someone.

"Maybe your dad's blackmailing him. Can you call the police?" I shook my head.

"No, then Michael will get in trouble. I just don't know what to do, and nobody is talking to me. I'm afraid Michael won't be able to protect me from my dad." I hated to think of Larry getting to me, and Michael not lifting a finger to stop him.

Pete was silent for a few minutes, and I wasn't sure what he was thinking about. Maybe he was thinking I had too much baggage for him to deal with. "What about that detective guy you were telling me about. Maybe if you explained the situation to him he could help."

"Detective Coughlin? Huh, I didn't think of that." Would Michael want me to talk to Detective Coughlin? I just wasn't sure. He might be my only source of protection though. We sat for a couple minutes while I mulled it over. "That's a good idea, Pete. I should go home then and grab his card so I can call him." I paused and stared at the ground. "I'm kind of embarrassed I came here."

Pete squeezed my shoulder. "Don't be! What are boyfriends for, if not to help with crazy things like this?" I had to laugh at that. "Do you want a ride home, Lil?"

I shook my head. "No, I think I need to walk more. I need more time to think all this over." I put my arms around Pete's neck and kissed him. "Thanks for being here. I don't know what I'd do without you, Pete. I'll call you later to give you an update." Pete and I did some more kissing before I left, and then I was on my way.

…

A couple hours later, the house was quiet and I was sitting on my bed, cell phone in hand. Grandma had gone out to dinner with Nate and Ruby, so I was alone. I stared at Detective Coughlin's phone number, debating if I should call him. We hadn't talked much since I told him about Larry, but I knew if I called he would help me. What I didn't know was how Michael would be able to come out clean. I desperately wanted to talk to him so he could tell me what I should do, but he wasn't answering his phone. I tried Sam and Fi too, but no answer either.

After twenty more minutes of indecisiveness, I decided to go downstairs for a snack. Food for thought, I told myself. When I reached the bottom of the stairs, I screamed when I spotted Larry sitting on the couch. I ran towards the front door, hoping for a quick escape, but he grabbed me around the waist before I could open it. I struggled in his arms and he pushed me away from him. "I just wanna talk, kid!"

I eyed Larry warily. "About what?" He smiled, knowing he had my attention.

…

A/N: Sorry for the wait, I've been working out some things with the plot, but I've got it under control now. Thanks for sticking with me, and let me know what you think!


	11. Chapter 11

Michael's Little Problem: Part 3

Chapter 11

Miami, FL

_Lily Sizemore's POV_

I stared at Larry, feeling my heart racing in my chest. I wanted to believe that he was just here to talk, but I knew this was something more. I kicked myself for not bringing my cell phone with me. I wouldn't have hesitated to dial Detective Coughlin's number. "Why don't you sit down, Lily? You look like you're about to bolt for the door again, and I won't be happy if I have to chase you down."

I suddenly realized Larry was holding a gun. He must have pulled it out after he sat back down. I sat down on the couch, as far away from him as possible. "What do you want to talk about?" I asked.

Larry smiled and my stomach dropped. "I wanna talk about you, and what you've been up to these past few months since I've last seen you. You've been a busy girl, haven't you?"

My chest was tightening, and I took a deep breath. "Sure, I'm always busy with school, and sports."

Larry laughed. "You don't have to bullshit me, kid. You and I both know what I'm talking about. You ratted on me to a certain detective." Larry scooted closer to me, and I gripped the seat cushion, having nowhere else to go. "I don't like you telling a detective about my business. You created a lot of problems for me, Lily."

Larry was so close, I could smell his aftershave. My stomach churned. "I did what I had to do to protect myself from you." I stated, while looking at my shoes.

"Why would you need to protect yourself from me? I'm your father, kid." I shrugged, choosing not to respond to that ridiculous comment. "That's why I'm here tonight, Lily. I knew you would be all over Michael, Fiona, and Sam for information this week, so I fixed that. I fixed up your little cell phone while I was at Michael's place so you couldn't reach any of them. I've been listening in on you for the whole week, making sure you didn't call that detective and do something stupid to ruin my plans with Michael."

I gaped at Larry, and suddenly all the pieces fit together. "But then –" Larry cut me off before I could finish.

"And how could I forget your handsome boyfriend that you've been hanging around with? He certainly looks like a nice fellow, but daddy doesn't approve. He's the one that gave you the idea to call your detective friend. He needs to be eliminated if you ask me." Larry shook his finger at me.

"You leave him out of this." I stood up from the couch, and Larry stood with me.

"Or what? You gonna gouge my face with a key again? There's no way you're stopping me this time, Lily. Michael is on my side now, so he can't save you." Larry looked at his watch. "We should really be going. Grandma will be coming home from dinner soon." He said in a mocking voice.

Larry walked towards me, and I took a couple steps back. "We don't need to go anywhere. I promise I won't call the detective." I pled, knowing I wasn't getting out of this.

Larry laughed. "What makes you think I can trust you, kid? You don't exactly have a good track record." He took another step towards me, and before I could back up his hand shot out to grab me. "If you decide to misbehave like our last meeting, I'll just take a trip to Pete's house and make him my next deadee. Understand?"

I nodded, feeling tears prickling in my eyes. "Fine. Where are we going?"

"You're going to stay with me tonight so I can keep an eye on you. We'll see what happens after tomorrow."

…

_Michael Westen's POV_

As I waited for Sam and Fi to get to the loft, I thought about the stupid things I had done the past week. I had been an idiot; plain and simple. After realizing that Larry had messed with my cell phone so I couldn't reach Sam, Fi, or Lily, I felt like a fool for working with Larry. I should have known he would pull something to try and get me separated from my friends. What I couldn't figure out was why he would want me separated from Lily. I felt horrible about lying to her. I had made her believe that I was going to kill a man because I was afraid of Larry getting to her for knowing what I was really doing. I knew that I would have to wait to tell her the truth until this was all over, and it hurt to know that I had shattered the trust we had between us.

When Sam and Fi arrived, we all sat down. I looked at both of them and held my hands out in defeat. "I need to apologize. I should have listened to both of you."

Sam shook me off and took a swig of his beer that he had promptly taken out of the fridge when he arrived. "It's alright, buddy. You were marked for death. It got to you."

"I know why I let Larry get too close." I admitted.

"You let him crawl inside your head and make a nest." Fiona was glaring at me.

"There's a part of me… there's a part that's like him. But it's just a part. And it gets smaller the longer I'm with you." I said, while staring at Fiona. I needed her to know how much she meant to me.

Fiona's expression softened. "Tell me you're done with him forever."

"I am. I want him gone. I want him out of my life and especially Lily's." I said firmly, my arms crossed.

"Then let's make a plan, Mikey." Sam said, standing up with a triumphant look on his face. Fi gave me a small smile and nodded, and then we set to work on a plan to get rid of Larry.

After a few hours of scheming, I felt like we finally hammered out a solid plan, but there was one thing that was still bugging me. I voiced my concern to Fiona, "I feel like it would be dangerous to tell Lily about any of this before tomorrow. I hate to keep her in the dark because I'm sure she hates me right about now but it's for the best."

Fi looked thoughtful. "You're right, it's best to wait. She's safe with your mother, just talk to her when it's all over to clear the air. She loves you enough to forgive you, Michael." I hoped she was right.

…

_Lily Sizemore's POV_

It had been a long night to say the least. After making sure I had no cell phone and no way to contact Michael or Detective Coughlin, Larry took me back to his hotel where I spent the night handcuffed to the bed. I was too terrified of what was going to happen to me, so I didn't sleep all night. Now I was lying on the bed, waiting for Larry to come back from wherever he went this morning when he woke up. I didn't know what to expect from anyone anymore. I couldn't trust Michael anymore, that was for sure. And I had no idea what Larry was up to. Nobody knew I was with Larry, and I had no way to reach the only people who I knew would help me; Sam and Fiona.

I was most terrified of what would happen to me after this was all over. Would Larry just let me stay here and live my life, or would he take me away? I had no idea how Michael would react when he saw me with Larry; what if he already knew I was with him and he was okay with it? I stewed over all the problems I was facing until Larry came back in the room. "Ready to go, kiddo?"

"Where are we going?" I asked, sitting up on the bed while Larry unlocked the handcuff around my wrist.

"Wouldn't you like to know." Larry sneered, while putting the handcuffs in his pocket. Larry grabbed the back of my shirt before I could walk to the bathroom. "I don't want any funny business today. I don't want to have to teach you another lesson, Lily." I almost rolled my eyes but I nodded. I knew there was no way I would be able to escape Larry today. Michael was no longer on my side.

A few minutes later, we were sitting in Larry's car, on our way to an unknown location. I had butterflies so bad that my stomach was hurting. I turned to Larry after a few minutes. "When we're done with all this, will I be able to go home?"

Larry shrugged. "I don't know. It would be very useful to have you with us."

I shook my head. "Michael wouldn't want that."

Larry laughed, getting close up to my face. I could see a faint scar on his cheek from where I had gouged him with the key. "You don't know what Michael wants, kid. You have no idea who he really is. I do." I didn't respond to that, knowing this conversation was going in circles. After about ten minutes, we pulled up to a parking garage outside a huge hotel. As I got out of the car, my instincts were telling me to run, but I knew I would never get away from Larry. "Remember what I said, kid." Larry said, as if he could read my mind. I saw Michael standing in the distance, and Larry grabbed my arm as we made our way over to him.

"What the hell is Lily doing here?" Michael asked when we walked up.

Larry laughed. "Oh, her? I picked her up last night because I was worried she'd talk to her little detective friend about our plan. Couldn't let that happen. Now could I?" Larry was beaming. "We are gonna have so much fun!" He practically shouted.

Michael looked at me and I saw a flash of anger in his eyes. Before I could make eye contact with him again, he began talking to Larry. "Yeah, I don't think we will. I dropped off Carlos's money at the airport this morning. He called off the hit. Me and Carlos are straight; well, at least we're gonna be."

Larry's face dropped. "You shouldn't have done that, kid. That is not your money to give away!" He suddenly pulled out his gun and pointed it at Michael's head.

"What's with the gun, Larry? I let you live and now you're gonna feed me to the sharks?" Michael laughed. I was starting to panic, but I was thankful the gun wasn't pointed at me…yet.

"You know I will. You know what? I don't have to. I'm just gonna leave you here and you'll be a smoldering corpse." Larry smiled evilly at Michael. _What the hell is going on?_ I thought to myself as I stood next to Larry and listened.

"What are you talkin' about? There's no bomb, Larry!" Michael looked at Larry like he was crazy, mocking him.

The light bulb turned on, and Larry nodded in understanding. I could tell he was about to go crazy and I suddenly wished I wasn't so close to him. "Oh, I get it. You framed him! That's nice."

Michael shook his head. "Carlos made his own choices, Larry."

By now, I wasn't even trying to understand what was happening. I just wanted to get out of the parking garage and away from Larry and Michael. Larry had crazy eyes. "You went back on your word because you weren't man enough to kill him! I should never have left you to do the dirty work, kid."

"I make my own choices! I don't kill anyone unless I have to." Michael yelled, suddenly getting closer to Larry.

"Yeah well, we are different that way!" Larry pointed his gun at Michael, and my stomach dropped.

"You're not gonna kill me, Larry. Not when the cops are comin' to talk to Larry Garber. The man who called in a report that he saw men with guns and a dumpster filled with fake cash. Not having an identity has its drawbacks, huh, Larry?" Michael laughed.

"You think we're done here? I faked my own death once! I think I can do it again." Larry shouted, pulling me back towards the car. I wrenched my arm out of his grasp and he didn't even seem to notice. I walked towards Michael, intending to just keep walking, but he grabbed my arm.

"Yeah, well what about all Larry Garber's investments and accounts? They'll sit on that money and they'll wait for you. You shoot me, and all that money's as good as gone." Michael paused while Larry thought. "You're at a fork in the road. Go broke and go to jail, or run from the cartel and live to fight another day. I know you man! This isn't even a tough call!" Michael was trying to make eye contact with me but I was purposely looking away.

"There will be another day." Larry said with a gleam in his eyes. We heard sirens in the distance and Michael looked down at me.

"Let's get out of here, Lily." I nodded and we ran for the street, leaving Larry behind to deal with the police.

I was so mad at Michael I kept a stony silence while we walked. I knew he was waiting for me to say something, but I refused to be the first one to talk. We had walked a couple blocks when I spotted the police cars driving by. I caught a glimpse of Detective Coughlin in one of the cars, and I stopped walking. If I told him everything about Larry I could solve this whole problem and never be bothered by him again. Michael stopped a few paces ahead of me and looked back. "Let's keep going, I parked the car a few more blocks away."

I shook my head. "I'm going back. I saw Detective Coughlin and I want to talk to him." I began walking, not even waiting for a response.

Michael caught up to me a few seconds later. "Lily, stop. That's not a good idea."

"Why not?" I said as I kept walking. Michael grabbed my arm, but I wrenched it out of his grasp. "Don't touch me!" I snapped. I hated that I had felt a prickling of fear when Michael grabbed my arm. Within that span of one week, our trust had been broken, and I was really feeling it at this moment.

I could tell I was really making him angry but I kept walking. We reached an entrance to an alley and I gasped when Michael suddenly pulled me to the side, out of view from the public. I tried to pull away from him, but he held on tight. "Stop it!" I hissed.

Michael looked at me sternly. "You better stop this right now, Lily. You'll put us both in danger if you tell that detective about Larry. Larry knows a lot of sensitive information about me, and he has the power to use that information against us. I won't let you go back there, do you understand?"

"Coughlin will know it's Larry and then he'll come looking for me!" I paused and glared at Michael. "Of course you'll probably expect me to lie to him, right?"

Michael stared back at me. "You know how much danger we'll be in if you don't. What do you want me to say, Lily?"

I stared at the ground, refusing to make eye contact with Michael, and he let go of my arm. I was sick of being dragged around, and I never thought Michael would speak to me like that. I shook my head, disgusted with the way this day had turned out. One thing I was sure of was that I couldn't spend another minute with Michael. "I'll find my own way home. I've had enough of you for one day."

Michael shook his head, clearly trying to keep his emotions in check. "Look, Lily. I know you're angry with me right now, but I'm not letting you leave by yourself. Larry is still out there and I'm not taking any chances. You're not thinking clearly right now."

That set me off. "_I'm_ not thinking clearly? How about you? You've been acting like a jerk the whole week! All I want is to not be with you right now."

Michael shrugged. "Alright, fine. I'll get out of your hair as soon as I drop you off. Sound good?" Michael paused and then added, "I just hope you know we're going to talk about what happened and there's no avoiding it."

"Fine." I muttered, and we walked out of the alley.


	12. Chapter 12

Michael's Little Problem: Part 3

Chapter 12

Miami, FL

Lily Sizemore's POV

A few days had gone by after the whole mess with Larry, and I still had not cooled down at all. If anything I was even angrier with Michael. I didn't understand why he had kept so much from me, and then it came back to stab me in the back when I least expected it. Larry had taken me away and Michael had done nothing to stop it. He was supposedly trying to protect me from Larry, but he was doing a very poor job of it in my opinion. I wished he would have let me talk to Detective Coughlin because I knew he would have been willing to help me.

The most annoying part about the whole ordeal was that I felt like I couldn't talk to anyone about it. Nobody knew the real truth about Larry except for me, Michael, Fi, and Sam. All the information I could tell anyone else was lies. I was sick of lying about Larry and I wanted to tell someone what he was really like. I wanted Larry to be hurt like I felt when he hurt me. I knew Detective Coughlin had probably caught a glimpse of Larry the other day, and I was just waiting for him to show up.

That's why I wasn't surprised at all to see his car outside the house when I got home from school. He was leaning against the hood of the car with a grim expression on his face. I knew I would have to lie to Detective Coughlin and that made me even more upset with Michael for not letting me talk to him the other day. "Hey, Lily. How's it going?" He asked when I was close enough.

"Fine I guess." I answered, on my guard.

"We got an interesting call the other day. A man matching your father's description was seen in a hotel parking garage. He slipped away before I got a chance to see for myself. Do you know anything about that?" He was looking at me very closely.

"No, Sir." I replied. I felt like I couldn't look him in the eyes or else he would know I was lying. He took a couple steps closer and I stood my ground, clutching my backpack.

"Are you sure, Lily? I hope you're not keeping anything from me. I'm only trying to help you." Before I could even think of what to say I saw a familiar black charger coming down our street.

"I'm not…" I trailed off when the car came to a stop right behind Coughlin's car. Coughlin turned towards the charger and Michael got out. I narrowed my eyes at Michael, instantly suspecting he knew Coughlin was here. I reminded myself to check my bag for bugs later. Michael strolled up to us, dressed in his casual outfit of jeans and a t-shirt. _He must not be on a job_, I thought to myself while I glared at him.

"Hello, Detective. Fancy seeing you here." Coughlin grunted and Michael looked at me. "You alright, Lily?"

I ignored Michael and looked at Coughlin. "I was just saying I don't know anything."

Coughlin nodded, but I could tell he didn't believe me. "Alright, Lily." He turned to Michael, who was now standing next to me. "I was telling Lily that someone matching her father's description was seen this past weekend."

Michael frowned. "Oh yeah? Did they catch him?"

Coughlin fixed Michael with a hard stare. "No, just missed him."

Michael shook his head. "That's too bad, Detective. Do you have any more questions for Lily?"

I wished Michael would just buzz off. He clearly didn't trust me to talk to Coughlin by myself. Coughlin shook his head and fished his keys out of his pocket. "Nothing right now, Westen." He turned to me and gave me a sad smile. "I'll see you around, Lily. Remember, you can always talk to me." _Boy oh boy I wish I could_, I thought to myself as he drove away.

I turned to Michael when Coughlin was out of sight. "You know, a little privacy would be nice every once in a while."

Michael raised his eyebrows. "I came here to fix grandma's sink. It was a coincidence that Detective Coughlin was here."

I stormed away into the house and Michael followed me in. Before I could climb the stairs, he stopped me. "Lily, we're not going to do this forever. The best thing for both of us would be to just talk it out."

"I'm not ready to _talk it out_ yet." I replied, knowing I was being a jerk. Grandma must have heard me say that because she chose that moment to walk into the room.

"This is ridiculous, Lily! You don't talk to Michael like that. I thought you knew better!" I stared at Grandma in shock.

"How could you take his side? You don't even know what he did!" I could feel the tears coming on, and I just wanted to be alone.

Before Grandma could respond, Michael butted in. "Ma, just let us work it out, okay?" Grandma shook her head and walked away, clearly frustrated. It felt so strange to have Grandma mad at me, but at the same time she had no idea what Michael had put me through. Michael was fixing me with a hard stare. "Let's go for a walk, Lily."

I huffed, feeling exasperated. "I asked for –"

"Right now." Michael cut me off, his voice razor sharp. I wasn't used to him speaking to me like this and I didn't like it at all.

"Fine." I put my backpack by the door and we left.

After we had been walking for a few minutes, Michael began talking. "Lily, I need you to understand that you can't just keep all this in. I hate seeing you like this."

I didn't respond for a few minutes because I just didn't know what to say. I hated that I had the urge to punch Michael in the face because I was so mad. Did he not understand why I would be acting like this? We arrived at the park where I had witnessed the murder a few months ago, and Michael sat on a bench, clearly waiting for me to speak. I pursed my lips, "I don't know why you're doing this!"

"I'm doing this because I love you, Lily." Michael stood up to come closer to me, and I hit my boiling point. I shoved him away angrily and he looked at me with raised eyebrows.

"Oh, yeah? You acted like you hated me the whole week and then you let him take me away! You lied to me and you didn't protect me!" I was sobbing now, and I couldn't speak anymore. I knew I would react like this, and that was the reason I wasn't ready to talk to Michael.

For the first time since I could remember, Michael seemed lost for words. "Lily, I can't even tell you how sorry I am."

I shook my head, wiping my face. "You don't know how it was! I sat in Larry's hotel room all night thinking you had joined him and you couldn't give two shits about me. I thought Larry was gonna take me away and you weren't even gonna lift a finger to help me!" I paused because I was crying again. "How do you expect me to trust you right now? Why would you force me to even discuss this?"

I sat down on the bench and put my head in my hands. Michael grabbed my hands and pulled them away from my face. I stared at him, wiping the tears off my face. "After we left that parking garage the other day, for the first time in my life I didn't want to be around you. Some part of me felt unsafe with you, and that scared me. And when I saw Detective Coughlin's car drive by, I wanted to talk to him. I needed to talk to someone who I knew would protect me. You took that away from me too." I paused, looking at the ground because I couldn't look Michael in the eyes. "I just don't understand what happened last week."

Michael took my face in his hands, forcing me to look up at him. "What happened last week was all my fault, Lily. I kept you in the dark to protect you. I thought if I kept you out of my business with Larry, he wouldn't get to you this time. I knew I would look like the jerk, but that was the only way I thought you could be safe." Michael shook his head. "It was all useless anyways; Larry got the best of me again. He did something to my phone so I couldn't contact you or Sam and Fi. Everyone thought I was siding with Larry. But that's what Larry does, he plays mind games with us, and we all have to pick up the pieces when he leaves."

I felt like the pieces of last week coming together hadn't made me feel any better. "Why would you think that if you kept me in the dark I'd just be okay?"

I shook my head in disbelief at the scope of Larry's plan and stared at Michael. "Lily, there were a lot of things that slipped through the cracks last week."

I cut Michael off before he could go any further. "Oh, so now you're just making excuses? Am I just another thing that slipped through the cracks?"

Michael shook his head. "I'm not making excuses, Lily. I'm telling you what really happened. Don't think for a second that I wasn't worried about you. Larry is just always a step ahead of me. The fact that you have a connection with Detective Coughlin scared Larry and he wanted to make sure you didn't get in the way. I didn't think of that, and I'm sorry."

Michael and I never talked this way to each other and I was having trouble handling it. I stood up from the bench and backed away from Michael. "I can't talk about this anymore."

Michael stood up, walking closer to me. "There's no avoiding this, Lily. You need to know these things."

"I don't need to know all the things you feel sorry for that happened last week. You're basically saying that Larry is an evil bastard and there's nothing we can do to stop him. What's left to talk about?"

Michael nodded. "Yes he is. He knows how to play on emotions. This is all a game for him. Believe me, Lil, if I knew you were in danger I would have been there for you. That's why we're talking about this. So you understand why I was not there for you."

"I know, so why do you let him play the game? He comes back here time after time and screws with our lives, yet you always seem to let him get away." I stared pointedly at Michael.

Michael frowned at me. "That's not fair, Lily. You're not allowing yourself to see my side. You know –"

"What do I know? I know every time he comes here I end up getting hurt, that's what." A part of me knew I was being ridiculous but I just didn't care.

"You know what, Lily? You have no idea how horrible I feel when I see you with a concussion or a bruised face. Please don't act like I don't know the consequences of Larry's visits. Larry is a formidable force, and while you may think it would be easy for me to get rid of him, you're wrong." Michael paused, shrugging his shoulders. "What do you want to do? Punch me in the face? Push me around some more? I'm open to suggestions because I just don't know what you want from me." Michael had had enough and was clearly showing it.

The tears were still coming and I did my best to wipe them away. "I don't know what to do anymore. The other day when you pulled me into that alley, I was afraid of you, and that's the first time that's ever happened to me. I didn't know how to react, and that's why I lashed out at you."

Michael sat down next to me and put his arm around my shoulders. "You have every right to be mad at me, Lily. I was a jerk to you. And you're right; I failed to protect you when you needed it the most. I assumed you wouldn't be involved in that mess, and I was wrong." Michael paused, contemplating what to say next. "I never, ever want you to feel afraid of me, Lily. I did what I did the other day because I was afraid of what would happen to us if you talked to Coughlin."

We sat in silence for a while after that. "I feel like such a brat." I looked at Michael apologetically.

Michael smiled. "Oh, I deserve it. I'm just not used to you talking to me like that so it was a little bit of a shock."

"I'm not used to you talking to me like that either!" I laughed.

We sat in silence for a few more minutes until Michael suddenly looked at me with a serious expression. "Lily, what happened with Larry? I just need to know he didn't hurt you."

I sighed, remembering the things Larry had said to me. "Well, he showed up at the house. He told me he knew about Coughlin, and also about Pete. He said he would kill Pete if I didn't go with him. He was afraid I would call Coughlin if he left me alone so he took me back to his hotel, where I stayed handcuffed to the bed all night. Nothing really happened except for a sleepless night."

Michael grimaced. "That must have been awful, Lil."

I shrugged. "I'm just glad it's all over."

Michael nodded. "Me too, kiddo. I'm so sorry my actions made you afraid to be around me. I can't imagine how you must have felt."

I looked away, suddenly embarrassed. I stood up from the bench and Michael followed me. I could feel the water works turning back on and I rubbed my eyes. "I don't want to feel that way every again either. I don't know why I acted like I did the other day when we left the hotel. I should've never believed you'd hurt me."

"You were scared, Lily. You thought you were going to be taken away and I wasn't going to help you. I can understand why you would have shied away from me." Michael was totally right, and I nodded, wiping my eyes. He must have seen my tears, because he stopped me and pulled me into a hug.

"I wish this had never happened!" I sobbed as Michael rubbed my back. It felt good to finally come to an understanding with Michael, and it was reassuring to finally come back to a sense of normalcy after our disastrous week.

"Me too." Michael sighed. After I was under control again I pulled away from Michael, and he put his hands on the tops of my shoulders. "Are you going to be alright, Lily? I can stay the night at the house if it'll help."

I shook my head. "I'll be fine. I just want to put all this behind me."

Michael nodded, "Sounds good to me, Lily." I smiled and we began walking back to the house, both of us in a much happier mood. After a few minutes, I felt comfortable enough to ask Michael something I had been wanting to talk to him about for a long time.

"Michael, I hate being so defenseless all the time." I looked at the ground, waiting for a response.

"You're not defenseless, Lil. I've seen you defend yourself very well." Michael gave me a sideways smile.

I kicked some rocks around while I walked. "I can throw a punch, but that's about it. I want you to teach me some spy stuff."

Michael laughed. "Spy stuff? There's not exactly a handbook, Lily."

"Oh, come on! You know what I mean, Michael. Teach me how to pick locks and shoot a gun! Anything you think I need to know." I glanced at Michael and he had a pained expression on his face.

"I don't know, Lil. I don't think you're ready to shoot a gun yet."

"Okay, then I'll ask Fi to teach me." Michael frowned at me. "I need to know! I won't let anyone take advantage of me ever again." I knew I was shooting below the belt, but I really needed Michael to know I was serious.

Michael ruffled my hair and put his arm around my neck, pulling me close to him. "You are too persistent for your own good, kiddo."

I tried to push him away but he had me at an awkward angle. "Stop, Michael!" I laughed, and he let me go. "See? This is exactly what I'm talking about!"

"Okay, Lily. I'll teach you a few things. As painful as it is for me to say it, I think it would help you. We all know trouble is always around the corner in these parts."

I looked at Michael and laughed. "You know that's right, sheriff."

Michael raised his eyebrows. "First lesson: don't make fun of your instructor. He might get mad." Michael made to grab me but I dodged him and made a run for it.

"I didn't say I wanted to start now!" I shouted, while running away. We ran all the way back to the house, and by the time we pulled to a stop in front of the steps I was laughing so hard I could barely catch my breath. Michael and I were going to be okay, and I would be ready when trouble struck again.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Yikes, it's been a while. Let me know what you think of this if you're still reading! **

Michael's Little Problem: Part 3

Chapter 13

Miami, FL

_Michael Westen's POV_

It was very early in the morning, but I was feeling positively chipper as I drove towards the Miami DMV. I couldn't say the same for Lily, who was sitting next to me with a grim expression on her face. Today was her sixteenth birthday, and I had volunteered to take her to get her driver's license. I suspected if my mother had taken her, Lily might have had a nervous breakdown. My mother tended to overreact about Lily's driving, and that was putting it lightly.

"Michael, I don't think I've never felt this nervous before." Lily was looking at me with a pained expression on her face, and she was hugging her stomach which I had noticed was a nervous habit of hers.

I looked over at her and laughed, trying to lighten the mood. "You would think I was taking you to some prison camp in Afghanistan, Lily! This is not a big deal. Think of all the crazy things you've done in the past year; taking the driving test should be a breeze."

"That's easy for you to say…" she muttered, and continued to stare out the window. We had taken my mother's car because Lily had insisted she didn't want to drive the Charger even though I told her it was good luck.

"You're such a grump, Lil. It'll all be over in about an hour and then I'll get to say I told you so. I bet you wouldn't be feeling any of these nerves if we were in the Charger." I smiled, knowing I was right and we drove the rest of the way to the DMV in silence. When we arrived, there was the usual line of people waiting to get in the door. Lily nervously followed me as I led us to the end of the line.

We waited for a few minutes before Lily clutched her stomach and looked at me with an expression of horror. "Michael I'm gonna throw up." She said. She did look pale, but I knew Lily was made of stronger stuff.

I put my hand on her shoulder. "Take a deep breath, Lil. It's gonna be okay." As I gave Lily the pep talk, the man in front of us turned to stare at Lily. "Can we help you?" I asked him sarcastically. He scoffed and turned around. Lily couldn't help but laugh at that and I felt her tense posture relax a little. I could tell she was still nervous, but I knew she was going to be just fine.

After a long forty five minutes, we had approached the front of the line and it was time for us to separate. Lily was shifting her feet from side to side and fingering the heart shaped necklace that my mother had given her when she was younger.

Lily took a shuddering breath and looked up at me. "Michael, maybe I'm not ready for the test yet."

I shook my head and pulled her to the side, putting an arm around her shoulders. "Lily, you wouldn't be here right now if I didn't think you were ready. I know you can do this. You're probably a better driver than all the adults in this room. Except for me of course," I added, ruffling her hair.

Lily nodded and I put my arms around her and squeezed; after a couple seconds when I was starting to think she might back out of taking the test, Lily looked up at me. "I'll do it."

"That's my girl." We parted ways and I found a seat on a hard plastic chair looking across the room at Lily, who nervously waited in line to take the test with all the other kids.

The woman sitting next to me was incessantly tapping her foot and I contemplated moving but she glanced over at me. "Oh, there's my Kevin! Don't you feel just as nervous as they do?" She was a plump woman, and I could tell right away which boy was her son.

"No, I'm not nervous at all. I know she'll pass." I said, staring at her.

The woman smiled and nodded, clearly taken aback. "Which one is your daughter?"

"The one in the purple tank top." I responded, while I watched Lily shift her weight nervously.

"Oh, how nice." The woman said. She got up once her son was called so she could pace the room and then it dawned on me. I didn't even think twice when the woman had called Lily my daughter. I responded without even thinking to correct her. I stared off into space while thinking about this, and after a while my cell phone rang. I looked at the caller ID and saw it was Fiona.

"What's up, Fi?" I answered; glad to pull myself away from my thoughts.

"Did Lily pass the test, Michael?" Fi sounded anxious.

"She's taking it right now, Fi. You sound worried, you don't think my teaching skills are up to par?" I asked, pretending I was offended.

"You said it, not me. You know I'm not worried about Lily, Michael. Was she a wreck?" I laughed, a "wreck" was a little bit of an understatement.

"Oh, you know Lily, Fi. She overanalyzes everything. I almost thought she wouldn't do it but she toughened up." At that moment Lily came back through the door with a big smile on her face and waved. "She just came back in, Fi. I'll talk to you later, looks like everything went fine." I waved back at Lily and gave her a thumbs up.

"Bye, Michael. Give her a hug for me." Fi hung up and I watched Lily grinned at me.

"I did it!" She laughed and went to wait in another line for her license. As I stared at her, I couldn't have felt more proud of my favorite little problem. I stood outside by the car and waited for her, and about ten minutes later, Lily walked out the door looking as happy as I'd ever seen her. She smiled when she saw me and ran towards the car. I put my arms out just in time to catch her when she hurled herself at me.

"Nice job, kiddo." I ruffled her hair and squeezed her tight before she could get away.

"Thanks, Michael." Lily said, detaching from me so she could fix her ponytail.

"I'm just happy I get to say I told you so, Lil." I smiled as she rolled her eyes and got in the car.

…

_Lily Sizemore's POV_

I felt as content as I was ever going to feel as I sat on the front steps, staring out into the street. It was late at night, and all my guests had just left. It had been a wonderful birthday celebration. Grandma had ordered pizza, and Michael, Fi, Sam and Pete had come over. I had a great time, and it hadn't even been awkward between Michael and Pete. Michael was still inside talking to Grandma, and I turned around when I heard him open the front door. He sat next to me on the steps and put his arm around my shoulders. "So was this birthday everything you'd hoped it would be?"

I smiled. "Yeah, it sure was."

"I have one more present for you. I didn't want Grandma to see it." Michael handed me a small, worn leather case. I looked at him with raised eyebrows, but opened it. I stared at the tools inside, not really sure what they were. "It's a lock pick set." Michael took the case from me and pulled the little tools out. "This was actually my very first set, and I thought you should have it. You're gonna need it when I start teaching you how to pick locks."

"Really? You're actually gonna show me?" I could hardly contain my excitement. Michael had been stalling these last few weeks, and I had thought he would just tell me he didn't think I should know spy stuff.

Michael shrugged. "I can't believe I'm doing it, but yes." Michael handed me the case and stood up. He held his hand out and I grabbed it.

I put my arms around him. "Thanks, Michael."

Michael smiled and ruffled my hair before I could duck away. "We'll start tomorrow morning at the loft. I have a few things that might help us."

…

The next day, I was at Michael's loft, ready and eager to learn spy stuff. I walked up the stairs to the loft feeling a little apprehensive. What if I couldn't do any of it and I was a total failure? I shook the negative thoughts away as I opened the door. Michael was standing at the kitchen counter, which was filled with a bunch of locks. He looked over at the sound of the door. "Oh look, you made it in one piece! Grandma called twice."

I rolled my eyes. Driving to Michael's loft by myself for the first time was not exactly a challenge. If Grandma knew the stuff Michael had me doing before I got my license, she would probably freak out. "She worries too much. I bet she smoked a whole pack since I left the house."

Michael shrugged. "It's possible. So are you ready? We have to go over a few ground rules first." I nodded and Michael continued. "Okay, I'm not gonna sugarcoat this. Doing any of the things I'm going to teach you is very dangerous, Lily. The only time you would ever need to do this stuff is when you are in extreme danger. Not when you lock yourself out of the house after a run. Nobody can know you can do this stuff except for Sam, Fi and me. Understood?"

"I get it, Michael." He seemed to accept that and nodded.

"Let's get started then. Did you bring your lock pick set?" I pulled the little case out of my pocket and Michael nodded. "Good, let's talk about locks first."

…

Over the next couple weeks, Michael and I developed a routine where I would come over to the loft a couple nights a week and learn spy stuff. We started off learning how to pick different kinds of locks like on doors or padlocks, and that was a challenge. There were a lot of little steps that were hard to remember, and one mistake brought you all the way back to the beginning. Michael gave me a couple locks to take home and practice with, but I knew they were slightly different than the real thing. After a couple days, I was becoming comfortable with the locks, and then we moved on to handcuffs. At the moment, I was practicing picking a set of handcuffs and Michael was sitting on his favorite green chair reading a book. "Michael?" I stared at him waiting for a reaction.

"Hmm?" he answered distractedly.

"How the heck do you do this with your hands behind your back?" I was getting pretty good at doing it with my hands in front of me, but how often would I get handcuffed like that?

"You get a feel for it when you do it for a while, Lil. That's really not the hard part about doing this though." Michael put his book down and stretched his legs. He walked over to where I was sitting and stared at the handcuffs. "You're gonna leave a mark on your wrists if you keep pulling like that, Lily. Just relax and try not to put too much pressure."

I rolled my eyes and let up a little. "What's the hard part, then?" I asked. I was fumbling with a bobby pin, trying to get it to fit the right way inside the keyhole. I smiled when I felt it click and the handcuff snapped open. Michael was always right.

"The pressure of the situation you'll be in when you have to do this. It's hard to focus when you know someone is after you or you have to make a quick escape. This is the easiest place to learn because you aren't under any pressure. You could sit here for hours without anyone bothering you." Michael sat on the stool next to mine and stared at me.

I shrugged. "I never really thought about that."

"Think about it. Imagine you're running from Larry and you have to unlock a door. You pull out your lock pick set and start working on the lock, but in the back of your head, you know Larry's coming for you and it's just a matter of time before he finds you. Still think you could pick the lock?" I stared at Michael in shock. "Or how about if you were handcuffed? You'd have to figure out a way to get your bobby pin out and you might only have a minute to unlock the cuffs."

"I don't know if I could do this stuff under pressure and I have no way of practicing. It's not like I'm gonna call Larry up and ask him to come over." It was Michael's turn to roll his eyes at me.

"I know you can't physically practice it, but you can imagine that's what's happening. Just try it the next time you practice lock picking. You'll see what I'm saying." I nodded, looking up at Michael.

"Let's just hope I never have to do this stuff in real life. Sound good?"

Michael laughed. "Sounds good, kiddo."


	14. Chapter 14

Michael's Little Problem: Part 3

Chapter 14

Miami, FL

Lily Sizemore's POV

The sound of my phone ringing dragged me out of my afternoon nap. I had been so tired the last few days with schoolwork and cross country that I had been taking short naps in the afternoon to keep me going. I felt around on the night stand, still groggy with sleep and grabbed my phone. I saw it was Michael calling and flipped it open. "Hello?"

"Lily! Where are you right now?" Michael's voice had an urgency to it that made me shoot up in bed.

"In my bed. What's wrong?" I could hear voices downstairs and I could tell there were people in the house.

"You need to leave, Lily! Grandma just called me and told me to stay away from the house. I think the police are there to question her. Something happened and I'm on the run right now." Michael sounded breathless and a little bit panicked. Not at all his usual self.

"Michael, you're scaring me. Where do you want me to go? Can I just go out the front door?" I hopped out of bed and started pulling on my shoes.

"No! Not out the front door, Lil. Go into my old bedroom and open the window. Hurry up. If these people see you they'll start asking you questions and you know too much about me. We can't risk it." My stomach plummeted, my worst nightmares confirmed. I slowly opened my bedroom door and peered down the stairs. The voices sounded like they were coming from the living room, so there was no way they would see me. I just had to make sure I was quiet. I tiptoed down the hallway and into Michael's bedroom and closed the door.

"I'm in your room. What should I do now?" I looked at his window and I knew what Michael's answer would be.

"Open the window and look down. There is a trellis going down to the ground. Use it like a ladder to climb down. I know it's sturdy; I've done it a thousand times. Just be very careful. Once you get down, get the hell out of there, Lily. Go somewhere safe." I looked down the side of the house and saw the ladder like device.

"Michael, this seems risky. I'll just go talk –" Michael cut me off right there, his voice urgent.

"Lily! I need you to do this for me. Can you do this?" I took a deep breath and nodded to myself. Michael had done so much for me, I had to do this for him.

"I'll do it. I'll find a safe place to hide until this all blows over. Whatever happens I hope you stay safe." I was getting teary eyed and I blinked rapidly to stop the tears from coming on.

"I will, Lily. I'll always be there for you no matter what happens today. I love you, kiddo." Michael's voice sounded funny at the end, almost like he was holding back his emotions as well.

"I love you too, Michael. See you when I see you?" I took a deep breath and stared at the ground, trying to push my nerves away from me.

"You bet. Bye, Lily." Michael hung up after that and I stuffed my phone in my pocket. Climbing down the trellis proved to be a lot easier than I thought. It really was just like a ladder and I was careful to look down at every step. I looked around to make sure nobody was watching me and I walked out the back gate, being careful not to make too much noise. Once I was safely away from the house, I really started panicking. I didn't know where to go. I couldn't go to Sam or Fiona because I just knew it wouldn't be safe around them, and I surely couldn't get Pete or Kelsey involved in all this. I would never forgive myself if something happened to one of them because of me.

I decided I needed to go somewhere and think about a plan of action, so I walked a couple more blocks and down an alley. About halfway down it seemed pretty quiet so I settled for sitting down next to a row of dumpsters. It smelled terrible, but at least it was private and I would know if someone was coming. _What would Michael want me to do? _I thought to myself as I brought my knees up to my chest. I wished I could call him back and ask where he wanted me to go. I couldn't be by myself because I didn't know if anyone was after me; I needed someone who could keep me safe. Someone like Detective Coughlin! I knew he would be able to keep me safe, but the problem was he would want to know everything that was going on, and I just could not give him that information. Would he turn me over to the feds?

After debating for a few minutes, I decided he was my best option at the moment. If he agreed to help me, at least he could keep me safe until Fiona or Sam got in touch with me. I took a nervous breath and pulled his number up in my phone. It rang twice before he answered. "This is Detective Coughlin."

"Hi, this is Lily Sizemore." I nervously started.

"Hi, Lily, what can I do for you?" He seemed surprised to hear from me. He's in for a lot of surprises today, I thought to myself.

"I'm in trouble and I need your help. I don't know what to do and I didn't know who else to call." I suddenly felt even more worried after I finally admitted to someone that I was in trouble.

"What's wrong? Are you in danger?" I didn't respond right away because I was holding back tears. "Lily? Talk to me."

"I don't know if I'm in danger. Michael called me and told me to leave the house and go somewhere safe because something happened and I don't know where to go. There are FBI agents at my house talking to my grandma and I can't go back there." I stammered.

"Everything is going to be fine. Do you know where you are now? First things first we need to find somewhere to meet." Something about the sincerity in Detective Coughlin's voice made me trust that everything was going to be okay.

"I'm in an alley a couple blocks away from my house. There's a gas station on the corner of maple and ridge that's not far from where I am. Can I meet you there?" I shakily stood up and started walking.

"I'll be there in five minutes, Lily. Just stay calm and watch your surroundings. Call me immediately if you feel like you're in danger, okay?" I nodded even though he couldn't see me and hung up the phone.

As I walked to the gas station, I looked around, but it didn't seem like anyone was following me. I worried that Detective Coughlin would bring me straight to the feds when he learned the situation. It was an understatement to say that Detective Coughlin was not very fond of Michael.

I felt slightly more relaxed when I saw Detective Coughlin was already waiting for me when I walked up to the gas station. He was dressed in casual clothing, much different than his usual suit and tie. "I almost didn't recognize you without the suit." I joked, trying to lighten the situation. Detective Coughlin was staring at me; it almost looked like he was checking me over to make sure I wasn't injured.

He gave me a small smile and shrugged. "There's this thing called a day off. Every once in a while I like to take one."

I instantly felt terrible for bothering him on his day off. "I'm sorry! I didn't realize you had a day off today…"

"Don't worry about it, I'm glad to help. Let's go somewhere a little more private." I nodded and we got in his car. We ended up driving to the park where I witnessed the murder and sat down on one of the benches.

"Thanks for helping me." I began. I knew Detective Coughlin would want to grill me about what was happening, and I was trying to put off the questions.

Detective Coughlin nodded. "Look, Lily, I'm happy that you felt you could call me but I need to know what's going on here."

"Look, Detective, I don't really – " I began, but he cut me off.

"You don't really know? That's bullshit and we both know it." No more Mr. Nice Guy, I thought to myself while I wrung my hands together nervously. "I don't wanna listen to a bunch of lies, Lily. We both know pretty much nothing you've told me about your life is true. Just tell me what's going on with that uncle of yours."

I didn't know what to say. I felt like Michael wouldn't want me to tell the Detective anything, but I felt like I had to. I wished he could be here now to tell me what to do because I was so lost. I was sick of lying but I didn't have a choice. "I just don't… give me a second here." I needed more time to think about all this. I was scared for Michael and scared for myself and Grandma and I just didn't know what was going to happen; I wasn't sure if I should be spilling my secrets with this man.

He put a hand on my shoulder and I jumped out of my skin; I was so deep in thought I had forgotten he was there. "Lily, all I'm asking for here is the truth. I'm on your side even though it may not seem like it. If you're in danger, I can't protect you if I don't know what's going on. You don't have to lie to me all the time; I want you to feel like you can trust me."

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "I do trust you. You have no idea how badly I want to talk to you about all this, but I just can't. There are a lot of things about Michael's life that would put me in danger to tell you, not to even mention all the stuff with my dad. I don't lie to you because I don't trust you, I do it to protect myself and my family."

Coughlin frowned. "Is your father involved in all this?"

I shrugged. "I have no idea and that's not a lie, which is why I really need to figure out what to do. My father is a dangerous man and there's a lot more about him that you don't know. All I know is that Michael is in danger and he told me I needed to leave the house. I know things about his life that I can't tell anyone, including you." It felt good to be telling Coughlin the real truth about my situation.

Detective Coughlin was silent for a few moments while he mulled over what I said. "So what's really been happening with your father? I know he and Michael used to work together and they did government work. That's how you know him, right?"

My eyes widened. "How do you know that?"

"I did my research, Lily. Plus, Michael told me. I went and talked to him after we talked that one day after you got hurt." I hadn't realized Michael had told him all that stuff about Larry.

I figured I might as well tell him about Larry if he knew all this already. "Larry comes into town every now and then and I always seem to get in the middle of things. I used to live with him when I was little and he used to use me with his job. Michael took me in when Larry disappeared and a couple years ago he came back here to try and get me back. He's a violent man and he's not afraid to hurt me, as you know. I just can't imagine Larry is involved in what's going on right now. Michael would have told me, and quite frankly Larry would probably have shown up by now."

"Hmm, sounds like a pretty rough situation you're dealing with right now; I appreciate you clearing things up a little bit for me though, Lily. Now we just have to figure out a place you can go until this danger blows over." We sat in silence for a few minutes after that and I tried to relax a little but I just couldn't.

"I don't know where to go." I muttered, looking up at him.

"That's alright, Lily. That's what we're gonna figure out." Detective Coughlin reassured me.

"Why do you care so much?" I asked, before I could stop myself.

Coughlin smiled. "You remind me of my little girl, you're gentle and innocent on the outside, but tough as nails when you need to be. I can tell you've been through a lot and I guess I just feel the need to check up on you every once in a while." I was shocked at his honesty and I hastily swiped away a few tears. I was touched.

"Thanks, it's nice to know I have someone on my side. So are you gonna make me talk to the feds?" I asked, hoping his answer would be no.

Coughlin shook his head. "I'm just a civilian today. I can't force you to do anything."

"Thanks, you have no idea how grateful I am for your help, detective." I smiled appreciatively at him and crossed my arms, looking out into the park. "So what do we do now?" I asked. Before detective Coughlin could respond, my phone rang.

"Check who it is before you answer, Lily." Detective Coughlin warned. My heart leapt when I looked at the caller ID and realized it was Sam.

"Sam?" I answered.

"Lily? Oh thank God, it's good to hear your voice, kiddo. Where are you right now?" The tears were coming on at hearing Sam's voice, but I pushed them away.

"I'm with Detective Coughlin, I'm safe. Where are you? What's going on?" I suddenly wished I had a little more privacy, so I stood up and walked away from the bench.

"Lily, I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, Mike's in trouble. He just got arrested, and they're bringing him to the police station. Maddie's at the station too, apparently the police brought her in for questioning as well." I doubled over, suddenly feeling out of breath. I felt like I had been punched in the stomach.

"What? Sam, what are we gonna do?" I gasped.

"Lily, you need to go to the police station and figure out what's going on with Maddie. Fi and I did some less than legal things today and we can't show our faces there. Can you do that?" I nodded even though he couldn't see me.

"Sure I can. Where should I meet you?"

Sam paused for a minute. "Let's meet at the beach tonight around seven. We'll fill you in there on everything that happened."

"Okay, Sam." I sighed, still trying to hold my emotions in.

"Listen to me, Lily; everything is going to be fine. We'll figure this out. Mike is a tough guy, he'll be fine. Got it, kid?" I said goodbye to Sam, and turned to Detective Coughlin, wiping my eyes.

"Can you take me to the police station? My grandma got arrested and so did Michael. I need to see if they're okay." I felt like I was hanging by a thread and couldn't even look him in the eyes.

Detective Coughlin stood up from the bench and walked over to me. "We'll go right now, Lily. You look a little pale, what's going on?"

"I shrugged. "I honestly don't know, I just need to get there." Detective Coughlin nodded.

The ride to the police station seemed to take forever. Detective Coughlin kept giving me sideways glances but I ignored him. I was too preoccupied thinking about my family. Once we finally got to the station, he turned to me and put an arm on my shoulder. "I'll meet you inside, Lily. I don't think it would look good for either of us if people saw you come in with me. Are you going to be okay?"

I nodded. "I'm fine, thanks for your help."

"Any time, Lily. I'll be right in there so come find me if you need anything, alright?" I thanked detective Coughlin again and ran into the station.

The police station was crowded when I walked in. I didn't know where to search or who to ask about Michael and Grandma. I saw a cop walking by that looked friendly enough, so I stopped him. "Excuse me, Sir?"

The cop, a young looking guy, stopped. "Need help, Miss?"

"I'm looking for my grandma, Madeline Westen. Have you seen her? She was brought in a little while ago." The cop gave me a funny look when I mentioned the last name Westen.

"She's in back talking to some detectives. You can't see her right now, you're gonna have to wait." I was about to interrupt him to protest when I heard some commotion by the front doors.

"Step aside, step aside." The loud voices of several cops flooded the room. I turned around and my stomach plummeted when I saw Michael walking in. He looked like he had been in a fight; his face was bleeding and his clothes were all rumpled. On instinct I ran towards him.

"Michael!" I shouted over all the noise in the room. His head perked up when he saw me and I ran towards him without thinking. I was about ten feet away when I was grabbed roughly from behind.

"You need to stay back, Miss." Came the rough voice of a cop from behind me.

I was crying now and I struggled in the man's arms. "Please, let me talk to him! Please!" I sobbed.

Michael looked back at me. "It's okay, Lily, everything will be alright." I shook my head and struggled some more in the policeman's grasp, but it was no use; Michael was getting farther and farther away. I was afraid that was the last I'd ever see of him. Once he was out of sight, I gave up my struggles and the policeman led me over to a bench. He hovered over me for a couple seconds and then seemed to realize I wasn't going anywhere and walked away.

What am I gonna do? I thought to myself. Grandma and Michael were nowhere to be seen. I had a feeling Michael was really in trouble this time and there was no way I could get him out of it. What if grandma went to jail too? Who would I live with? Negative thoughts swirled around in my head and I jumped when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Detective Coughlin was staring down at me. "You have two minutes to talk to your uncle. Follow me."

"Thank you." I muttered, and stood up. I followed him to one of the rooms in the back and Michael was sitting at a table by himself in the room. I ran in when I saw him and Detective Coughlin closed the door to give us some privacy. Michael stood up and I put my arms around him, sobbing again. He put his handcuffed hands around my neck and rubbed my head.

"Calm down, Lil. We only have a couple minutes so just listen. I had a run in with a man who had something to do with my burn notice, and I had to do a lot of illegal things to stop him. The police might try to ask you questions about what happened today so I won't tell you anything more. I'm going to be out of the picture for a while, so I'm counting on you to help grandma. If I disappear for a while, just know that I will be back, alright? I'll always come back for you." I didn't understand why Michael was saying all these things. How long would he be gone?

"I don't want you to leave." I whispered into his shirt.

Michael held me tighter. "I don't want to leave either, Lily. You just have to believe me when I say I'll be back. You have to be strong. Can you do that for me?" I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. Michael leaned back, still keeping his hands around my neck. His eyes looked glassy, and I could tell he was trying to hold back tears. He was just as scared as I was that we would never see each other again. "I love you, Lil. Always remember that. Let everyone know…" Michael trailed off, but I knew exactly what he meant.

…

Twenty minutes after I left the room Michael was being kept in, I found out he had disappeared. Just like he said, he was gone; swept away by a couple men wearing suits. I had a terrible moment of sheer panic before I remembered Michael's words. "I'll always come back for you, Lily… you have to be strong." I repeated those words to myself as I prepared for what was to come over the next few days… months… years?

Who knew?

I didn't. _You have to be strong, Lily…_

…

The End.

Holy cow! I'm sorry it took me so long to update, but part three is officially complete! Thanks for sticking with me; I know it was a long wait. I do eventually plan on writing part four, but haven't written any of it yet. My college days are over so I don't have as much time as I used to have when it comes to working on this stuff, with being thrown into the workforce and all…

Anyways, thank you again for all your reviews. I really love to hear your thoughts, they give me the kick in the pants I need to keep writing!


End file.
